Power faults stop bus gate cameras catching cars

36 minutes ago

Lee Bottomley, Stoke-on-Trentand

Natalie Sands,BBC Radio Stoke

Paul Brown said cars drive through the bus gate "like it's no mither"

BBC A man in a black polo shirt and black cap, with a lanyard around his neck. He is standing in front of large glass windows in which the reflection of buildings opposite can be seen. — Paul Brown said cars drive through the bus gate "like it's no mither"

Drivers flouting rules barring them from using a bus-only zone are not being caught by enforcement cameras because of power faults, a city council has admitted.

Bus gates are short lengths of road intended for use by buses and other authorised vehicles, and a stretch of Station Road outside Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station has been operating as one since August 2025.

Motorists flouting the rules face a £70 fine but Paul Brown, who works at a nearby bar, said many were ignoring the restrictions and could have been for months.

"Everyone is just going through willy-nilly like it's nothing," he said. The city council said the enforcement cameras would be working again soon.

The bus gate was part of a £12.5m scheme to improve the area outside the station, including making it more pedestrian friendly by reducing traffic and encouraging more use of public transport.

The bus gate is outside Stoke-on-Trent railway station

A stretch of pink coloured paved road, with the words bus gate on it, and a bus parked up in the distance. There are buildings to the left and right of the road — The bus gate is outside Stoke-on-Trent railway station

After the road changes, Brown, from the Bod bar on Station Road, said they have sent the council the registration numbers of all the vehicles that delivered to the bar, so they would not be fined for going through the bus gate.

"But it seems like we went through all that effort for nothing," he said.

"Cars come through like it's no mither... it's just like a normal backstreet road, no rules, nothing implemented."

It was "pointless" spending money on new signs and a camera when it was not in operation, he added, describing it as just like a normal road.

Bus gate fines are £70 for the penalty charge notice, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days.

A sign to the left-hand side of the picture, in front of a row of buildings. The sign says bus gate 180 yards ahead. — The bus gate went live in August 2025

A city council spokesperson said the bus gate was a virtual barrier regulated by a traffic order so only authorised vehicles could go through.

There were repeated, regulated signs and chances for motorists to divert before driving through the bus gate, they added, with enforcement carried out by both the local authority and the police.

But there have been some "complicated power faults affecting the cameras and nearby electrical street assets," they admitted.

"We have been working with our contractors, the railway station and power providers.

"Enforcement cameras will be in force again soon, so motorists contravening this traffic order should expect it will lead to a penalty charge notice."

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