Cancer-battling OAP vows to fight fine after getting caught in South Shields bus lane

Edwin Peterson received a £30 Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) after he drove up Fowler Street and into the bus lane on Westoe Road last month.

The 78-year-old from East Boldon says he ended up in the bus lane because he was focusing on getting to South Tyneside Hospital for a procedure connected to his prostate cancer.

The father-of-two doesn’t dispute he was in the wrong, but says he is refusing to pay the fine due to mitigating circumstances.

He said: “I’m not sure how I ended up in the bus lane. I had been to Ashley Timbers then turned right up Fowler Street, and that’s when the camera has captured me.

“I was very worried about my hospital appointment, so I guess I was focusing more on this.

“When I rang the council to explain the situation, a nice young lady told me not to worry, to put all of this in writing and send it off, which I did.

“But then I still have this fine. This is what I am upset about, council bosses digging their heels in when I had been told not to worry.”

Mr Peterson, who used to run a printing business, has appealed the fine with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

He has since been sent footage of his car in the bus lane and is now awaiting a call to organise a tribunal hearing.

He said: “The amount of documents I have been sent is ridiculous, the postman couldn’t even get it through the letterbox, and the disc they included has now jammed my laptop.

“I refuse to give in about this. They shouldn’t be telling people not to worry and making them think everything will be fine.”

A South Tyneside Council spokesperson said: “We would like to remind motorists that it is illegal to drive in bus lanes and those who do so risk receiving a PCN.

“This particular area is well signed and enforced by a camera, which automatically records incidents of people driving in this restricted area, as well as their vehicle registration plates.

“However, motorists do have the right to appeal a PCN. Details of how to do this are available in the documentation they receive with the PCN.”