Van driver fined for using bus lanes in city he hadn’t visited for years

A van driver was landed with a fine for illegally using a bus lane – in a city he hadn’t visited for years. Dave Benson runs a removal truck business and so spends his days on the road, but he is more used to his hometown of Blackpool than the westcountry city of Bristol – 200 miles away. To add to the confusion, the penalty notice from Bristol City Council – somewhere he hasn’t been to for at least three years – showed a white Mercedes rather than his removal truck, reports the Mirror.

Dave, 49, was eventually sent six letters – each demanding payment of a GBP30 fine. He soon realised there was a mistake and came up with a theory as to what was going on.

One of the penalty notices Dave received (Image: Dave Benson)

Dave emailed Bristol City Council suggesting that the camera was in the wrong place and catching an ‘N’ when it’s actually an ‘M’ in the number plate, but he says they never got back to him. However the council has told The Mirror this isn’t the case and believes his licence plate has been copied – a common tactic of thieves who want to drive undetected.

Dave said: “I first started getting these letters around three months ago. Of course, I was shocked. Also found it humorous, as any idiot can see it’s wrong.

Dave Benson (Image: Dave Benson)

“After the fourth one I rang the council – the phone number is impossible to find by the way – and the guy told me I had to reply to each one and basically prove it isn’t me!

I work 90 to 100 hours a week. “The cameras are clearly in the wrong place causing Ms to look like Ns “I’ve never had anything like this before, I’ve got a clean licence and not even had a parking ticket for years.

Dealing with Bristol council is like talking to robots.” He added: “I’d love to track the white Mercedes down. We all know right from wrong, this guy obviously doesn’t care or is just oblivious and so shouldn’t be on the road.”

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: “We have reviewed CCTV and the same number plate as Mr Benson’s van was picked up on a car using a Bristol bus lane. Therefore, it is possible the number plate has been cloned, which Mr Benson should report to police. “We are cancelling all the fines that were issued to Mr Benson”.

According to a RAC report published in January, complaints about cloned registration plates are known to be on the rise.

A total of 1,105 drivers contacted the DVLA back in March 2020 to object to their vehicle being wrongly linked to driving offences, nearly twice as many as the 656 complaints reported in April 2019.

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