Fishergate fiasco for taxi driver who has been issued with three unwarranted fines

Graham Rushton says the county council is wasting tax payers’ money demanding fines which are not due. Its parking service tried to fine him in December, in February and in April, for driving down the reintroduced Bus Only lane on Fishergate during restricted hours.

But as a licensed hackney cab driver he is permitted to use his silver Mercedes vehicle on the route at all times, unlike private hire cars which cannot. St Annes-based Graham was astounded to discover Lancashire Parking Services does not keep a database of hackney drivers.

After making repeated representations and appeals, all his fines were withdrawn or quashed. Graham said:“How many times do I need to do this? How much taxpayers’ money are they wasting like this?”

Peter Bell, the council’s regulation and enforcement manager, said: “We are adding Mr Rushton’s vehicle onto the exemption list to stop it from happening again. We previously had a technical issue with some evidence provided to us, which has now been fixed, and we were able to view the information that he provided. We don’t have details of all hackney cabs from across Lancashire. We’re currently reviewing this arrangement, as well as taking action to improve this process for hackney drivers.”