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37pThursday, December 29, 2011
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Reporting local life since 1854
Christmas Edition
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BAILIFFSCHASE BUSLANE FINES
Man chargedover stabbingA 54-YEAR-OLD man arrestedin connection with thestabbing of a farmer is due incourt today
John Swinson, of CheadleRoad, Alton, was last nightcharged with grievous bodilyharm with intent.
He was arrested after policeattended a report of an assaultin Cheadle Road, Alton, ataround 2.15pm on Tuesday.
Father-of-three WalterKeeling, aged 62, of CheadleRoad, Alton, was taken by airambulance to the UniversityHospital of NorthStaffordshire with seriousinjuries where he is stillreceiving treatment.
Swinson was remanded incustody to appear beforeFenton Magistrates Courtt o d ay.See Page 3
£1m fraudsteris behind barsA CRIMINAL convicted of a £1million bank fraud handedhimself into police after theChristmas holiday.
Neil Wynne went on the runfrom Stafford Crown Courtlast Friday.
The 44-year-old wassentenced to six years inprison in his absence.
Wynne, of Fielding Street,Stoke, has now started his jailterm after he surrenderedhimself at Newcastle PoliceStation on Tuesday.See Page 7
265 drivers refuse to pay £60 penalty
BY ALEX [email protected]
HUNDREDS of motorists havebeen visited by bailiffs afterrefusing to pay £60 fines for driv-ing in bus lanes.
Stoke-on-Trent City Councilhas issued 8,761 tickets sincebringing in an £80,000 spy car tocatch motorists driving along 10bus lanes from October 2010.
At least £196,000 has beenraked in through fines from the6,524 drivers who have paid up.
But the council is now usingbailiffs to recover cash fromthose who have refused to payfor several months.
At least 265 drivers have hadtheir cases handed to bailiffs,who are delivering letters tohome addresses threatening fur-ther action.
New figures showmotorists are stillusing the 20-metre buslane in HuntbachStreet. More than 5,600of the tickets issuedhave been on the Hanleyroad, which leads tocar parks behindMarks & Spencer.
Shoppers have accused thecouncil of making easy moneyon the popular shortcut as manymotorists claim not to realise itis a bus lane.
The £60 fine is halved if paidwithin a fortnight of receivingthe ticket.
Shopper Pam Harrison, aged61, of Oversley Road, FeggHayes, has shunned Hanleysince receiving a £60 fine forusing Huntbach Street.
She said: “The bus lane spycar is just a cash cow for thecouncil. I wouldn’t go to Hanleyagain unless I had no choice.
“There are nicer places withcheaper parking only a little bitfurther away.
“The council is driving peopleout of Hanley and they are notlistening to anyone.”
The number of people beingcaught in Huntbach Street hasfallen from an average of 544-
per-month to 262-per-monthsince the issue was high-lighted by The Sentinel in
Ap r i l .A further2,105 motor-
ists havebeen
fined for using the StaffordStreet bus lane in Hanley.
The other tickets were issuedin Albion Street, Hinde Street,Hulton Street, Old Hall Streetand Quadrant Road, in Hanley;Christchurch Street, in Fenton;and Commerce Street and TheStrand, in Longton.
Abdul Rauf, pictured, chair-man of Stoke-on-Trent HackneyCarriage Association, who alsooperates Stoke-on-Trent Taxis,said: “The enforcement is goodbecause if you allow everybodyto use the lanes it will mean theyare congested and buses andtaxis get stuck in traffic.”
The spy car was upgraded inthe summer to allow it to auto-matically send fines to driversparked illegally in residentialstreets and outside schools.
A council spokesman said theauthority has incurred no costsin bringing in bailiffs.
He added: “There are 265 casesbeing processed by bailiffs inconnection with outstandingbus lane penalty debts.”
Have you been visited by thebus lane bailiffs? Email us [email protected]
FANS REACHFOR THE SKY
SEE PAGE 4
Sidibe:‘My sonstoppedme fromre t i r i n g ’
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Picture:Mark Scott
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