ALMOST 1,700 motorists have had their fines for crossing York’s Lendal Bridge waived by City of York Council.

The figure equates to about five per cent of the penalty charge notices (PCN) issued since restrictions banning cars between 10.30am and 5pm were introduced in the summer.

Another 1,259 drivers who were issued with pcns for driving along Coppergate at times when cars are banned have also had them waived – equating to approximately 13 per cent of all fines issued.

The statistics were provided to The Press after one motorist, Allan Harvey, from near Hull, contacted the newspaper to say his fine for crossing the bridge during a shopping trip to York last month had been waived by the authority as a “goodwill gesture”.

Mr Harvey said he suspected it had been scrapped because he had written to the council, claiming the signs warning of the traffic restrictions did not meet national standards, but the authority had refused to comment on the reasons. He argued that if his fine was being waived, so should everyone else’s.

Tony Clarke, head of transport at the council, said the bridge scheme was fully compliant with the Department for Transport and all signage on and leading to Lendal Bridge was designed to the appropriate legal standards.

He said: “On some occasions we have cancelled PCNs at our discretion where there has been a genuine exceptional circumstance.

“However, as with any traffic enforcement matter the council is not obliged to pursue every penalty and can, at it’s discretion, choose to cancel, waive or not pursue certain ones.

“In all cases when PCNs are issued they are valid and should be paid. However, we would advise motorists to continue to avoid using Lendal Bridge during the restricted hours so that they don’t receive a PCN.”

The Press reported earlier this week that 16 motorists had had their fines for crossing York’s Lendal Bridge waived by the council after they had appealed to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Another 13 had fines for driving through Coppergate scrapped.