Reporting back with success
Unfortunately I was late to accept a hearing it automatically went to an adjudicator.
I added some additional comments and pictures of the sign being incorrectly installed. Not being parallel with Oxford Street. It infact sits at a 45Deg angle which is misleading making on coming motorists believe the restriction is on Hulme street which is what it did in my case and made me hesitant to proceed hence turning down the bus restriction road.
Adjudicator's reasons,
It is the Authority’s case that the Appellant’s vehicle was in a bus lane on Oxford Road on 13 May 2024. They rely in evidence on CCTV footage, which opens with the vehicle on Oxford Road, having emerged from Charles Street. It looks as though it was intending to proceed across the junction into Hulme Street, but it then makes a late left turn and proceeds into the bus lane. The Authority also rely on a collection of photographs of the location, showing the relevant signage, which is dated 10 May 2024. I note that there is an advance warning sign on Charles Street prior to the junction and then there are two prohibition signs on Oxford Road. The one on the Charles Street side faces directly ahead and so on approaching the junction along Charles Street it would be side on and not clearly visible. The sign on the opposite side of Oxford Road is angled such that it would be visible from Charles Street, but it is on the corner at the entrance to Hulme Street.
It is the Appellant’s case that the positioning of the latter sign is misleading because it indicates that the restriction applies to Hulme Street. Having regard to the CCTV footage, I am satisfied that the Appellant was misled by the positioning of this sign. I take the view that the positioning of this sign was potentially misleading, it being so close to the entrance to Hulme Street such that it could have been interpreted as applying to Hulme Street. Accordingly, and noting that the Appellant did not see the advance warning sign it having been obscured by a delivery lorry, I am not satisfied that the prohibition signage was clear and unambiguous, and, in those circumstances, the contravention cannot, in my view, be established and I allow the appeal.
The Appellant has raised various procedural points, but there is no need for me to address these
Big thanks for everyone who input into this thread!
If anyone else gets this same fine use the incorrectly installed sign as your defence at tribunal!
