Drivers will receive a staggering £88,000 in refunds after a major error saw motorists incorrectly charged to use a popular city centre route.
Road users had been wrongly fined up to £100 for using a bus lane on Lanark Road despite the rules changing weeks before.
There was a 28-day gap between the expiration of old traffic orders and the implementation of new ones. During this time, there was no driving laws in place around using the lane meaning motorists could not be issued fines.
However, letters were still sent out to motorists with hundreds paying the fine believing they had broken the law.
Figures show that a whopping 884 had already been paid by the time the error was spotted. Meanwhile, 114 fines were still open with eight cancelled and six having been written off, EdinburghLive reports.
Officials have already confirmed that a process for issuing refunds to motorists who had paid the charge was currently being established.
They stressed the new system will be an “automatic, fully auditable process which will not require the customer to contact us”.
Labour councillor Stephen Jenkinson, the newly-appointed transport committee convener was left to apologise to road users.
He commented: “We’re currently investigating this matter but I’d like to assure residents that anyone who has received a fine in error will either have it cancelled or be reimbursed.”
The short bus lane was introduced back in 2022 after Lothian Buses highlighted it was an area where delays were common.
However, some have appeared to question the refunds with the lane clearly marked as a bus route on the approach.
X user @SW20Ed, a campaign group calling for 20 Minute Neighbourhoods in South West Edinburgh suggested more bus lane enforcement was needed.
They explained: “It’s appropriate that folk are being refunded for some it’s these fines. But it’s 100 percent clear that this is a bus lane on #LanarkRoad though!
“Why more bus lane enforcement is needed, 3000+ fines in 3 months, only 150m of bus lane, operates only 4.5 hours, 5 days a week.”
“Worse the camera is only on the last part of the lane – the bit near at the bus stop. It’s designed to catch people blocking the bus stop!”
