A minibus driver has voiced his frustration after he was fined for parking at a bus stand he has used for years. Jacob Marshall, 28, is a bus driver for Marshalls of Sutton on Trent, which regularly drives into Nottingham city centre to drop off and collect passengers for day trips and night outs.
However, on Thursday, March 16, Jacob was shocked to return to the minibus he was driving to find a fine had been issued for the vehicle. Jacob explained that he parked at the bus stand in Mount Street, as he had done dozens of times before as it is one of the only bus stands in the city centre where parking is permitted.
Jacob said: "I've been at Marshalls since I was 15 and I'm 28 now, and I have been a bus driver there since I got my bus license and I have always parked there. It says that you are allowed to park there, so obviously walking back to the bus at 11 o'clock at night after sitting in the cold waiting for passengers was a shock."
He explained that he was fined £70, but if it was paid within a set period then it would be reduced to £35. However, Jacob is appealing the fine as he feels he had a right to park at the stand for bus parking, because he was driving a minibus which is taxed as a bus and has to have a licensed bus driver.
Jacob stated that on the Visit Nottinghamshire website it clearly states: "Nottingham provides convenient coach parking, available at the following places. Please be aware that these are strictly drop off and pick up points – waiting and/or parking is not permitted (with the exception of Mount Street)."
The 28 year old explained that parking at that particular bus stand means drivers can "walk into Nottingham to get something to eat, try to keep warm and go to the toilet" and there are limited places in and around the city where they are allowed to park a bus, as most are for drop off and collection only, or have no facilities nearby.
He stated that "as a company it would have to evaluate if it's worth going into Nottingham" as it feels the city is making it difficult for visitors to go to, and that they have to consider the wellbeing of its staff. Jacob continued: "We run buses into Nottingham every day seven days a week.
"It's just disappointing at the end of the day that a warden wouldn't use common sense, surely you can see that it's a bus. If the council have found a magical way of not classing a bus as a bus we'd love to know as we'll no longer need a bus license to drive it and that would perhaps help with out shortage of bus drivers and recruitment."
Jacob added that the difficult parking situation in the city is already "putting visitors off Nottingham." Speaking of the issue, a City Council spokesperson said: “All bus stops are for boarding and alighting only from buses, including minibuses, and enforcement officers will always give a ten-minute observation period or longer if needed, if passengers are getting on and off the bus.
“However, parking is not permitted at a bus stop and in this instance, the vehicle was observed with no driver or passengers present for more than ten minutes, which is why a ticket was issued. However, we have since revoked it because one of the signs in the area had been turned around which we accept could have led to some confusion.
"This has been rectified and so anyone using this space to park can expect to receive a penalty notice.” Nottinghamshire Live has contacted Visit Nottinghamshire for a comment.
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