How many bus lane Penalty Charge Notices Oldham Council issues, from which cameras, how much it raises, and how often challenges succeed — from data released under Freedom of Information (ref FOI 24285).
45,038
PCNs issued in 5 years2021/22–2025/26
£1.21m
gross income, 5 yearsnet of costs not held
7,108
PCNs in 2025/26across 8 cameras
53%
paid at the £35 discount2025/26
75%
of challenges upheld2025/26
This page reports data released by Oldham Council under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI 24285, responded 2026-08-11). 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
Oldham's eight cameras issued 45,038 penalties over the five years and raised £1,210,751, an average of £26.88 each against a charge of £70 reduced to £35 for prompt payment. Enforcement has fallen steadily and substantially: 14,220 penalties in 2021/22 against 7,108 in 2025/26, roughly half. Every one of the five roads follows that path — St Marys Way most sharply, from 4,460 to 1,414. Well over half of all penalties are paid at the discounted rate, 27,595 of 45,038, which is high compared with most authorities here and explains why the average return sits close to the £35 discount. One year does not quite square: in 2022/23 the council records 7,499 penalties paid at the discount, which at £35 each would be £262,465, against £248,857 of income. The shortfall is about 5%, and the likeliest explanation is the rate change itself — the discount was £30 until 31 May 2022, so the first two months of that year were collected at the lower figure. Every other year clears comfortably.
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.
Eight cameras across five roads, and the council records penalties by road rather than by camera — it told us that breaking the figures down to individual cameras would exceed the cost limit. Ashton Road carries three of the eight (at Lee Street, Hathershaw and Primrose Bank) and Oldham Road in Failsworth two (inbound at Mill Lane and outbound at Ridgefield Street); Lees Road, Oldham Road in Royton and St Marys Way have one each. Four of the cameras were switched on together on 30 October 2017 and the other four on 29 July 2019. Oldham has four further bus lanes on this site — Rochdale Road, Bottom o'th' Moor, and the contraflow lanes on Market Street in Shaw and King Street — which are not camera-enforced and so appear in none of these figures.
Challenges & appeals — do they work?
Formal representations to the council, and appeals to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Drivers made 3,917 formal challenges over 5 years.
Year
Challenges
Upheld
Rejected
Success rate
To tribunal
2021/22
1,232
753
386
61%
24
2022/23
851
546
265
64%
16
2023/24
666
463
195
70%
12
2024/25
636
466
147
73%
4
2025/26
532
398
121
75%
8
The council's own figures show the share of challenges upheld went from 61% in 2021/22 to 75% 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 Oldham Council is £70, reduced to £35 if paid within 21 days. It is a civil penalty — there are no licence points. £70, halved to £35 if paid within 21 days, is the standard charge for a bus lane contravention outside London. The discounted amount was £30 until 31 May 2022, when a change in the regulations raised it to £35, so the earliest figures here were collected under the lower rate.
What the council does not hold or publish
A per-camera breakdown. The council's system records penalties by street, not by individual camera. It said that producing camera-level figures would mean going through the records by hand and would exceed the cost limit, so roads with more than one camera are shown as a single total.
Cost of running the cameras. The council supplied gross income only and gave no operating costs, so there is no way to say what the enforcement nets.
How tribunal appeals were decided. The council gave the number of appeals each year and split them into won, lost, not contested and consent, but did not say whether won and lost are from its own point of view or the driver's. Rather than risk stating the outcomes backwards, only the number of appeals is shown. There were 64 across the five years, falling from 24 in 2021/22 to single figures since.
The bus lanes behind these cameras
Each of these locations has a full page with operating hours, permitted vehicles and the governing traffic order: