The bus lanes that drivers went into the most in Reading have been revealed.

Bus lanes appear throughout Reading, with the borough having more more bus lanes per mile of road than anywhere else in the UK.

The rules of bus lanes dictate that only buses and other vehicles like bikes or taxis are allowed to use them – no cars are allowed.

These bus lanes can be in force all the time or at some points in the day.

READ MORE: How much Reading council raised in parking fines during the pandemic

But that doesn’t stop drivers falling afoul of the bus lanes from time to time, resulting in a fine for for non compliance.

The bus lanes that caught the most drivers out during the pandemic years, so 2020-21, was the Minster Street westbound bus lane,  where 7,582 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued, accounting for 17 per cent of all bus lane fines that year.

You can see the top five places where bus lane fines were issued below:

Minster Street (westbound) – 7,582

Beresford Road (northbound) – 3,214

St Mary’s Butts (northbound) – 2,722

Bath Road – 2,321

Friar Street (eastbound) – 1,887

A total of 44,489 bus lane fines were issued in 2020-21, which is just under half the number dealt to drivers in 2019-20.

Of the 44,489 bus lane PCNs, 1,201 were cancelled after formal and informal representation, and 741 were written off for other reasons.

Figures show that a total of 35,714 bus lane fines were paid in 2020-21, the year of the pandemic.

Unlike fines for illegally parking in residential streets, the council made a surplus from enforcing its bus lanes, meaning the fines made more than it cost the council to enforce them.

You can see how much the council spent on enforcement, the income it accrued, and whether it made a surplus or a cost from its regulation of traffic and parking in the table below:

The parking fines for bus lanes cost £30 if paid within 14 days.

If the fine is not paid within 14 days, the full charge of £60 applies, which has to be paid within 28 days.

The figures for bus lane fines and where they were issued were presented at a Reading Borough Council policy committee meeting on Monday, April 4.

READ MORE: Drivers face £70 fine for parking on pavement under proposed new law

Commenting on the report, councillor Tony Page (Labour, Abbey) the council’s lead member for transport, said: “All our bus lanes are properly signed and advertised.

“If a PCN does go to appeal, the adjudicators of the appeal are always very thorough in establishing that the signage, and lining, and all the other requirements are complied with.

“Because if they aren’t, that will be the first reason for dismissing the PCN, so that level of compliance is pretty fundamental.”

Cllr Simon Robinson (Conservative, Peppard) asked whether the council could analyse who were guilty of parking and bus lane breaches – whether they are residents or visitors.

A council officer said they would look into whether this data could be collected.