The number of bus lane penalties issued by London councils increased 8% in 2016-17, with more than 340,000 given to motorists.

346,860 bus lane penalty charge notices were issued in 2016-17, up 8%

Analysis by Click4Reg.co.uk found Lambeth council issued the highest number of bus lane penalty charge notices in London from April 2016 to March 2017, at a total of 44,148 – the equivalent of 121 penalties every day. Kingston upon Thames was next with 28,984 penalty charge notices– a 17% rise from 24,674 the year before. Coming in third place was Barking and Dagenham, with 28,618 penalty charge notices.

On the other end of the scale, Wandsworth council issued the lowest number of bus lane penalty charge notices in London, at just 61. Slightly above, Waltham Forest council gave more penalty charge notices at 1,751 to road users who had misused bus lanes in their borough – a 34% decrease from the previous year (2015-16), where there were 2,636 fines. Bexley, City of London, Greenwich, Kensington & Chelsea, Redbridge and Sutton & Westminster were all excluded from the research, as none of them enforce bus lanes in their particular borough, according to Click4Reg.

Drivers issued with a bus lane penalty charge must pay either £65 (outside Greater London) or £160 (inside Greater London).