A bus lane fine has been cancelled, with an apology issued after a couple received two penalties for a single rule breach in Reading.
Philip Webb drove his wife Maria into the town centre to catch a train, dropping her off in Stanshawe Road.
Only buses, taxis and cyclists are allowed to enter or exit the street onto Caversham Road.
Mr Webb was issued a penalty charge notice (PCN) fine for the driving offence that took place on Friday, July 18.
Mrs Webb said: “He didn’t know it was a bus lane, he didn’t realise it was and would not have done it if he had known.”
They paid the reduced charge of £35 within 14 days via a cheque that they delivered to the Reading Borough Council offices in person on September 17.
However, just over two weeks later, Mrs Webb received a PCN for £105.
Mrs Webb said: “They issued it to me, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing – we use the same car, a Ford Focus, and we’re both insured.
“As far as we’re concerned, the fine has been paid, and we even got a receipt for the payment.
“I don’t feel we should have to go into the council again, they just don’t want to deal with it, they are incompetent- they can’t work out it’s been paid.”
The council has since apologised to the Webb family for issuing the second fine, which has now been cancelled.
A spokesperson said: “The council has written to the Webb family to apologise to them for an internal processing error which meant their payment, whilst promptly paid and received, was not added to the online record of the bus lane contravention.
“This resulted in an automatic follow-up letter and uplift in the penalty charge notice for non-payment, which has subsequently been cancelled.
“As with all PCN’s issued, they are sent to the DVLA registered keeper of the vehicle, as opposed to the driver of the vehicle at the time of the offence. In this case the registered keeper is Mrs Webb, which is why she would have received the correspondence.
“The council has put in place additional measures to ensure the error is not repeated.”
People caught driving into a bus lane are issued a PCN of £70, which is reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days.
The £70 charge applies within 28 days. After that, a 50 per cent uplift of £105 is applied.
Council data shows 2,540 bus lane fines were issued in Stanshawe Road in 2023/24, the latest figures available.
That is an increase of 49 per cent on the 1,699 PCNs issued in 2022/23.
