Clerical error over road sign forces council to refund £50,000+ to motorists

A clerical error by the Department for Transport (DfT) has left Coventry City Council facing a bill of more than £50,000 for refunds to motorists.

The mistake was noticed by local resident Richard Henighan, who wondered why his parents were fined for driving through a bus gate near the city’s railway station.

Mr Henighan said he noticed some signs were obscured or ambiguous and later spotted the mistake, which wrongly described the signs to be authorised.

According to the council, up to 1,780 drivers were fined since the signs went up on 10 December, with penalties set at £60, reduced to £30 if paid within a fortnight.

Jayne Innes, cabinet member for city services, said: “There was a typo in the letter so they [DfT] refer to the sign by the wrong name.

“Therefore, for a period of time, without our knowledge, the bus gate wasn't operational as it should've been.”

The DfT blamed an administrative error and said it was discussing the issue with Coventry.

Mark Smulian