£100k cost of cameras to catch cars in Wolverhampton bus lanes

Wolverhampton City Council expects to raise £250,000 for itself in fines as it tries to cope with £123 million worth of cuts, which will result in 2,000 job losses.

The council is going to instal cameras at 22 bus lanes and gates, such as the A449 Stafford Road and Stafford Street, Willenhall Road and Wednesfield Road.

But bosses have stressed the money will be ploughed back into the road network and help to cover the cost of filling in potholes and other maintenance. Business leaders today said they would rather see bus lanes scrapped altogether to get traffic moving.

The city council is also planning to charge them to remove graffiti, a service it currently offers for free.

Henry Carver, chairman of the Wolverhampton Business Group, said: "People who drive cars in bus lanes are breaking the law so I can understand why the council would act to enforce this.

"But it isn't good driving along busy roads such as Wednesfield Road and Willenhall Road with cars only allowed to use one lane. It would help the city if the bus lanes were just removed."

And Sham Sharma, chairman of the Wolverhampton Business Forum criticised plans to charge businesses to remove graffiti. "It is not the victim's fault if someone sprays graffiti on their building, " he said.

Councillor Roger Lawrence, leader of Wolverhampton City Council, said: "We will still be removing graffiti but asking property owners to pay something towards it."

He said he expected to see the income from bus lane fines drop after people got the message that they were being watched.