First-time offenders who stray into two controversial bus-only zones in Preston might escape a fine in future, the leader of Lancashire County Council has suggested.
The Reform UK-run authority has said it is willing to have “a conversation” about the restrictions after they were branded “cash cows” by opposition politicians.
Stephen Atkinson was responding to a call at County Hall’s budget meeting for the bus gate on Corporation Street – near the city centre – and the recently-introduced bus lane on New Hall Lane to be scrapped.
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The Corporation Street set-up, which bans through traffic between Marsh Lane and Heatley Street – on what was previously the main route between the University of Lancashire and Ringway – raked in £3.35m worth of fines in the 18 months after it came into force in June 2024.
The arrangement on New Hall Lane, meanwhile, went live at the start of February this year. A brief grace period has since been in place, meaning that warning notices – rather than fines – have been issued for initial breaches of rules that reserve a lane for buses on the city-bound of the route between Fishwick Road and Witton Street.
Presenting a proposed amendment to the Reform budget – calling for the two zones to be axed for two years and then reviewed thereafter – Liberal Democrat county councillor Mark Jewell (Preston South West) said his party was “strong advocates for the use of public transport”.
However, he said the restrictions should be viewed through the prism of their intended aim “to facilitate the unimpeded journeys of buses”.
“If no-one was being fined, then it [is] clearly serving its purpose and people are demonstrating that they’re fully aware of the restriction.
“[But] if everybody is being fined, that might tell you that people are unaware of the restriction – and perhaps it’s badly signposted – and/or [that] you are gating the most obvious route for travel in these parts of Preston.
“We do not find it acceptable that bus gates are used as a cash cow,” County Cllr Jewell said.
Penalty charge notices (PCNs) for flouting bus gate and bus lane regulations in the county council area are charged at £70, with a reduction to £35 for those who pay up within 21 days.
Lib Dem group leader John Potter said businesses had closed down because of the Corporation Street bus gate, which the party had also proposed be axed in last year’s county council budget.
Preston City Council leader Matthew Brown – who also sits on the county council as the Labour member for the Preston Central West division – said the bus gate rules “obviously aren’t working”.
Meanwhile, independent Progressive Lancashire group county councillor Michael Lavalette (Preston Central East) said while he was a supporter of bus travel and integrated transport, the Corporation Street bus gate – which the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) previously revealed had been breached on more than 100,000 occasions between June 2024 and and December 2025 – was “the craziest design that we’ve ever seen”.
Of the New Hall Lane bus-only area, he added that it “takes up half of the road space”, while his Progressive Lancashire colleague, Almas Razakazi (Preston South East) said it was making traffic problems “much worse” – and accused Reform of “exploiting local drivers and those coming into Preston”.
Both of the restrictions were approved under the last Conservative administration, but Reform – which took control at County Hall last May – has since shown no sign of changing course.
However, in response to the onslaught during the budget meeting, County Cllr Atkinson appeared to hint at a compromise, saying: “There’s maybe something we can do on that.”
He drew a distinction between “people that offend repeatedly and don’t pay adherence” to the rules – and those who “innocently do it for the first time”.
“I think there’s definitely a conversation we can have going forward,” the leader said.
Cabinet member for highways and transport Warren Goldsworthy backed his boss’ suggested discussions, but rejected the Lib Dem characterisation that it was “a binary choice” between the facilities being either “a cash cow or a failure”.
He pointed to the fact that buses are now “more punctual”, citing that aim as “one of the reasons” the rules were introduced. He added that there were 700,000 more people using buses across Lancashire since last May and that passenger satisfaction had improved.
However, County Cllr David Howarth (Penwortham West) said the stats were “completely irrelevant”, as they related to the whole of the county – not just those buses using Corporation Street and New Hall Lane.
There are nine bus-only zones in and around Preston and a total of 18 across the Lancashire County Council patch, which excludes Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen. Between January and mid-December 2025, they collectively generated £2.24m in income from fines, which the authority says is reinvested into improving the roads across the county.
’It just needs to go’
A councillor who has led the charge against the New Hall Lane bus lane since it was first mooted says the suggestion of an “amnesty” for first-time offenders is “a distraction”.
Suleman Sarwar, who represents the St. Matthew’s ward on Preston City Council, says there is a fundamental problem with the feature.
“The New Hall Lane bus lane is a safety and design issue. It no longer works for the people who live and travel on it every day,” said Cllr Sarwar, who conducted a survey last year in which 94 percent of respondents said traffic had worsened since the restriction was added to the road, even though it was not being enforced at that time.
“Over 500 residents opposed it. My petition and survey reached more people than Lancashire County Council’s consultation – the community spoke. Both the Conservatives who introduced it and Reform who are keeping it have ignored that.
“If Reform are now talking about waiving first-time fines, it tells you they know enforcement is catching ordinary people out. But you do not fix a broken policy by softening the punishment – you fix it by removing the problem.
“New Hall Lane is one of Preston’s main arteries – disrupt that road and you disrupt the city. Labour has been clear from the start – it should go. I will continue to stand with my community until it is removed,” Cllr Sarwar told the LDRS.
The city council passed a motion last October – backed by all parties except the authority’s one Reform member – calling for the suspension of the Corporation Street bus gate, pending an impact assessment of its effects. The authority also said enforcement of the New Hall Lane bus lane should be paused for the same reason.
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