REGARDING your article on the bus lane in Knutsford Road at Bridge Foot.

The council’s response is, frankly, ludicrous.

A council spokesman said: “The bus lane suspends approximately nine metres prior the left turn into School Street but Warrington Borough Council provides a discretionary additional 11 metres to allow longer vehicles to safely manoeuvre prior to turning left.”

Longer vehicle? How long is longer?

Does a car and trailer qualify for this unknown length?

So we are to assume that a longer, length unspecified, vehicle may enter a prohibited lane at an unmarked 11 metres before the marked end of the lane in full sight of the enforcement camera and Warrington Borough Council says it will, at its discretion, not issue a penalty ticket.

Really! How would a driver know if his/her vehicle is long enough?

How would a driver know at what point the ‘supposed’ discretionary section starts?

Warrington Borough Council insisted on payment of a ticket despite representation that, although it is not disputed that the vehicle was in the bus lane before the unmarked 11m discretionary section, the driver of a longer vehicle acted with consideration for the safety and convenience of other road users when the traffic was so light as to be almost but not quite non-existent and in the complete absence of buses.

Of course they were quite entitled so to do but perhaps this example will serve to enlighten drivers about what ‘discretion’ they should expect to receive if they are photographed anywhere in the bus lane.

You might care to suspect their supposed 11m discretion is merely a ruse to entice unwary drivers of undefined longer vehicles into a revenue generating penalty ticket trap. I couldn’t possibly comment.

AITKEN BROTHERSTON