A MAN has spoken of his anger after he got two penalty tickets for straying into a bus lane in Blackburn.

Joseph Bux fully accepted he had driven in the bus lane on October 14 as he turned left on Accrington Road to go to Furthergate Service Station.

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But Mr Bux, of Weavers Croft in Clitheroe, said he was shocked when he discovered Blackburn with Darwen Council had sent him two tickets for the same offence.

And when the father-of-two, 59, went down to Blackburn Town Hall to pay the fine he said he was left frustrated nobody would discuss the case with him or clarify why he had been given two tickets.

Mr Bux, 59, who was also given a penalty notice for driving in a bus lane on the same stretch of road four days earlier, said: “With the first offence I was impatient. The driver in front of me slowed down at three different junctions and didn’t turn right. I went into the bus lane to get around them. I accept responsibility and I have paid that fine.

“With the second one I turned into the garage a bit too early and slightly cut across the bus lane.

“When I got the two tickets I didn’t realise they had sent me a duplicate. I just thought it was two copies of the same ticket. It was only when I got down to the Town Hall to pay it and the woman pointed out they were two different tickets.

“What annoyed me is she said there was nothing they could do and there was nobody there who could talk to me about it. I didn’t know if there was a genuine reason for receiving two tickets or if it was just an error.They could have cleared it up there and then but instead they said I had to put an appeal in writing.”

“Now I have got to go to Citizens Advice to get them to draft me something because I am not used to writing letters.”

Mr Bux, who was a forklift truck driver at Sally Salon Services in Blackburn before having to take early retirement because of a back injury, said he has paid one of the tickets but is appealing the duplicate.

The council introduced fines for anyone other than bus drivers or Hackney carriage drivers using the new Pennine Reach bus lanes on September 1. The penalty is £60 or £30 if paid within 21 days.

A council spokesman said: “This appears to have been an administrative error.

“A letter will be sent to Mr Bux to let him know the duplicate penalty notice has been cancelled.”

“Anyone who is given a parking ticket in the borough has the right to appeal in writing to the council’s Parking Services, details of which are on the parking ticket.”