A bus lane branded a council “money maker” led to nearly £100,000 in fines in one year.

More than 3,000 drivers have been handed penalties for driving down a restricted section of Canal Road, Strood.

Between December 2022 and December 2023, Medway Council received a total of £91,872.39 from Penalty Charge Notices, according to data released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Canal Road runs between the A2 near Rochester Bridge and Commissioner's Road but the stretch between Commissioner's Road and the turn-off to Strood Railway Station is only open to buses, cyclists and taxis.

Drivers of any other vehicles face a penalty of £30.

Karen Newby was fined just before lockdown after turning off the A2.

She was in the area as her niece was looking to buy a house nearby. Karen said: “I’d actually gone past the turn-off to the station so I couldn’t go anywhere else – I had to drive through the bus lane. As soon as I had, I knew what I had done.”

Karen accepts partial responsibility but says it was not clear when entering Canal Road that there would be no exit if you went down it.

She added: “There wasn’t a sign at the bottom of the street – it’s basically no entry after the station.”

There are still no signs when first entering Canal Road, but there are ones adjacent to the station which warn of the bus lane 300 yards ahead.

Andy Wickenden said he also recalled the bus lane not being very clear when he was fined a few years ago.

He said: “I was shocked when I got the fine – I was sure that there must have been a mistake until I realised it was my car in the photo.

“I’ve never been down there since. It’s a money-maker for the council.”

In January 2023, more than 300 drivers were fined in just one month, accumulating a total of £11,620 between them.

The lane has also been the subject of discussion for years among workers based in Medway City Estate.

The area is often congested after 5pm, but allowing motorists to use the bus lane – enabling them to avoid driving a longer loop along Commissioner’s Road and down Station Road – could be an answer to the ongoing issue.

Alison Lewis has worked on the industrial estate for the past seven years and says traffic is a nightmare, particularly when there is an accident.

She said: “I have never understood why this has not been opened up to ease traffic through Strood on the estate.

“Please make a change – a petition should have been started a long time ago.”

Another commuter, Julie Thomas, suggested that the lane be opened during certain times of the day.

She said: “When we had heavy snow a few years back, it took me four hours to get off the estate – it only started moving when the police opened up that road.”

Some question why the lane is limited to buses and its effectiveness.

Laura Jervis, who used to work on the estate said: “If there was a regular reliable bus serving the estate then there may be an argument to keep it but I never managed to catch a bus once.”

The 170 bus operates between Canal Road and Medway City Estate during weekdays from 7am to 7pm.

But Laura, who would commute from Maidstone by train, often walked half an hour to get to her office.

She said: “From the station, I was never able to catch it, and I also had clients wait at the station when they visited the office – one time for more than 40 minutes.

“Although it looked like a regular bus, it rarely ran. I also never saw it on my way to and from work walking the length of the estate.”

The 170 by ASD Coaches runs every 45 minutes and the only other buses and coaches using the lane would be those on private hire.

In November, it was announced that part of the 170 route was being axed, and would not run through the entire estate.

It no longer goes past Anthony’s Way by the Neptune roundabout, despite the thousands of people who work on the industrial estate.

Laura said: “The people that have the most trouble are on Sir Thomas Longley Road.

“If the bus route was open, more traffic could go to the left by the newsagent and it wouldn’t back up with only one way out.”

For years campaigners have called for the route to be opened. A Facebook group dedicated to sorting out the traffic issues on the estate was created a few years ago by local worker Roland Beaumont.

He says he asked the council to open it three years ago but was denied due to concerns about causing noise and pollution to the houses in Canal Road.

In January 2022, the lane was opened to ease traffic while roadworks were carried out to install a new slip lane on the Anthony's Way roundabout.

The section became restricted again following the completion in February.

Roland said if there are no new developments to the traffic issue: “In 12 months every business is going to be looking for somewhere else to move to.”

Medway Council was approached for a comment on whether the signs for the bus lane are sufficiently clear, whether it was efficient, and whether there are plans to open the section to all motorists to ease traffic. It had not responded at the time of writing.