Council apologise over movie shoot bus lane fine blunder

Glasgow City Council has apologised after a bus lane camera kept churning out hundreds of fines for motorists diverted for a Hollywood movie.

The bus gate at Nelson Mandela Place in the city centre generates more than £1m in fines every year.

Last month roads officials suspended the restriction so other streets could be shut off while Hobbs and Shaw was being filmed.

But it has now emerged the camera remained operational.

As a result 817 individual demands for cash have started appearing on door mats.

The £60 fine can rise to £90 if it goes unpaid after a month.

The restriction should have been suspended for the filming of the movie, starring Idris Elba and Jason Statham.

The Universal Pictures film, which is a spin-off from the lucrative Fast and The Furious franchise, also features Dwayne Johnson.

One motorist has just had his fine ripped up by the council after he submitted an appeal.

He said: "I just wonder how many people just paid up and didn't appeal?

"I was puzzled when it came in because I clearly remembered the signage saying the bus lane was suspended.

"This is not the way to run a road system, when you're firing out fines that weren't meant to be issued.

"At the end of the day, we pay enough in terms of parking fees in Glasgow without having rogue fines issued just because someone didn't do their job properly. It's a shambles."

In 2017 the Nelson Mandela bus gate caught out 22,317 drivers generating £1.3m in revenue.

The council shut off a series of streets around George Square between 23 and 29 October to allow 200 film crew and actors to shoot scenes for the movie, which is due out next year.

Glasgow City Council has been keen to develop its status as one of the most popular urban film sets in the country, advertising a free liaison service to movie producers.

Roads laid out on a 'grid' system have helped it double as Philadelphia, New York, San Francisco and London for a host of major productions,

The October shoot is expected to provide a seven-figure boost to the city's hotels, restaurant and hospitality industries.

In the summer of 2012, night-time road closures were put in place in Cadogan Street, Wellington Street and the Broomielaw for spectacular stunts in 'Fast and the Furious 6".

Last year, US-style street signs and post boxes were erected in the city's Bothwell Street to turn Glasgow into 1980's New York for the Sky Atlantic drama Patrick Melrose starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

The council believe the mix-up happened when one of the production crew wrongly changed a street notice, on just one day of filming, diverting motorists into Nelson Mandela Place

A spokesman said: "A total of 817 notices were issued in that bus lane in W George St/Nelson Mandela Square on 28 October.

"All have been cancelled and we have contacted those affected to apologise."