The man in charge of Chatham’s bus station has admitted they needed more signs after the number of fines for drivers breaking traffic rules fell at the quickest rate since it opened.

This week marked the second birthday of the terminal, which controversially opened six months late and over-budget.

Despite the passing of time the final cost has still not been publicly announced, though it is expected soon.

The cost of the terminal was soon overshadowed, however, by the 30,000 fines it has issued to wayward motorists who drove through it.

Dozens of Medway Messenger articles featured drivers who complained the bus station was a cash cow because the road signs, which ban everyone except taxis and buses, were not clear enough.

We revealed half the bus station’s victims were not even from Kent, and later, that Medway Council was still issuing thousands of fines despite cancelling them for anyone who appealed.

Despite insisting the signs were legally sound, the council spent thousands of pounds redesigning the road in Medway Street.

Now the latest refit is finished and the tide of fines appears to be slowing down dramatically.

In the first three weeks of September 360 drivers were fined, after about 612 in four weeks in August and 1,186 in five weeks in July.

At its peak more than 2,000 people a month were being fined at the bus station.

Speaking on the second anniversary regeneration director, Robin Cooper, said the reduction was due to improved signs.

“If you look at May 2012 we were running at about 96 fines a day; May 2013 we were at 56 and we’re now at about 21,” he said.

“We’ve decided to do more than the law says. We probably did need more signage and that’s what we’ve done.”

He defended the system which caught so many people, saying the appeal process was very easy. “It’s a free service and how long does it take to write a letter?” he said.

Asked if he would apologise for the problems, he said: “I don’t know who’s asking for an apology, but the signage we had was perfectly lawful. A council is someone who implements the laws of Parliament. That’s what we were doing.”