How many bus lane Penalty Charge Notices Northumberland County Council issues across Blyth, from which cameras, how much it raises, and how often challenges succeed — from data released under Freedom of Information (ref 11278089).
20,750
PCNs issued in 5 years2021/22–2025/26
£459,340
gross income, 5 yearsnet of costs not held
3,528
PCNs in 2025/26across 1 camera
46%
paid at the £35 discount2025/26
36%
of challenges upheld2025/26
This page reports data released by Northumberland County Council under the Freedom of Information Act (11278089, responded 2026-08-07). Figures are the council's own. BusLaneCheck is independent and not affiliated with the council. Compare every UK authority →
Bus lane PCNs issued per yearGross PCN income per year
The bus gate caught 6,269 drivers in its first full year and has settled at roughly 3,500 a year since — 3,968, then 3,179, 3,806 and 3,528. Two months stand out sharply against that pattern: December 2021, with 1,840 penalties, nearly three times any other month in five years, and September 2021 with none at all, which usually means the camera was out of service. Challenges here succeed far more often than at most authorities: of 3,209 formal representations over five years the council cancelled 1,117, about one in three. Appeals beyond that have got harder — adjudicators allowed 16 of 32 in 2021/22, but none of the 14 heard across the last two years. The one camera has raised £459,340 over the five years, an average of £22.14 for every penalty issued, which is below even the £35 discounted charge — a little over half of all penalties, 10,998 of 20,750, were paid at that discounted rate. One figure in the council's answer does not add up, and is published here as supplied rather than smoothed over: for 2021/22 it reports 3,129 penalties paid at the discounted rate, which at £35 each would be £109,515, but gives income for that year as £46,770. The following year runs the other way, exceeding the same test by almost exactly the amount 2021/22 falls short, which suggests income is counted when the money arrives while penalties are counted when they are issued. Across all five years together the figures do reconcile. These are the council's corrected figures: it reissued the income and discounted-rate tables on 12 August 2026 after a review found errors in its earlier response.
Which cameras issue the most fines
Camera-enforced bus lane locations ranked by PCNs issued in 2025/26. The last column is the 5-year total.
Northumberland County Council operates exactly one camera-enforced bus gate in the whole county — Laverock Hall Road in Blyth, where enforcement began in December 2020. The council stated this directly in its response, so this is a confirmed complete list rather than a partial answer.
Challenges & appeals — do they work?
Formal representations to the council, and appeals to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Drivers made 3,209 formal challenges over 5 years.
Year
Challenges
Upheld
Rejected
Success rate
To tribunal
2021/22
1,037
354
683
34%
32 (16 allowed / 16 dismissed)
2022/23
628
247
381
39%
7 (2 allowed / 5 dismissed)
2023/24
549
154
395
28%
15 (8 allowed / 7 dismissed)
2024/25
528
192
336
36%
11 (0 allowed / 11 dismissed)
2025/26
467
170
297
36%
3 (0 allowed / 3 dismissed)
The council's own figures show the share of challenges upheld went from 34% in 2021/22 to 36% in 2025/26 — so a well-grounded challenge is worth making. See our guide to appealing a bus lane PCN for the grounds that win.
The fine itself
A bus lane PCN from Northumberland County Council is £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days. It is a civil penalty — there are no licence points. The FOI response did not restate the penalty. £70, halved to £35 within 21 days, is the amount already recorded on the Laverock Hall Road lane page from the council's own bus gate enforcement page. The income the council reported is NOT consistent with it — see the reconciliation note below.
What the council does not hold or publish
Cost of running the camera. The council stated plainly that annual operating costs for the Laverock Hall Road bus gate are not held, so the income figures are gross and there is no way to say what the enforcement nets.
Rejected representations and dismissed appeals. The response gave the number of formal representations received and the number accepted, but not the number rejected; the rejected counts shown are the difference between the two. The same applies to appeals dismissed.
A breakdown of income by year that reconciles. The council corrected its income and discounted-rate figures on 12 August 2026 after finding errors in its first response. The corrected totals hold together across the five years, but the 2021/22 income is lower than that year's own discounted-payment count implies, and 2022/23 is correspondingly higher, so the year-by-year split should be read as the year the money arrived rather than the year the penalties were issued.
The bus lanes behind these cameras
Each of these locations has a full page with operating hours, permitted vehicles and the governing traffic order: