A sax player who regularly performs at a Kent restaurant says he is boycotting the town, after twice being caught out by a controversial new bus lane policy.

Jaime Gibson is among 30,000 drivers to be fined for breaching the rules – which he insists were not adequately signposted – since they came into effect in April.

The Australian-born performer was hired to provide live music at The Cote Brasserie in Tunbridge Wells at its saxophone brunch held on the last Sunday of every month.

He arrived for the first session on Sunday, April 30, stopping in Mount Pleasant Road to unload his equipment, before driving off to park properly in a car park.

The gig went well and he was booked again for the following month, but a few days later he was landed with a £70 Fixed Penalty Notice for having breached the borough’s “bus-gate” rules.

A small section of the carriageway outside the Civic Hall – and the restaurant – is restricted to bus use only between 9am and 6pm.

Mr Gibson, from Ramsgate, said: ”I was shocked. I really did not know what I had done wrong. I hadn’t seen any signs.”

He paid the fine right away in order to take advantage of the discount offered for prompt payment.

He said: “When I went back the next month, on May 28, I was very careful. I looked out for any signs that I was doing something wrong, but still didn’t see any.”

He stopped and unloaded again, and was again subsequently hit with another fine, which he quickly paid but then also lodged an appeal.

Since then, he has had several exchanges with the Tunbridge Wells parking manager John Strachan, explaining he had been dropping off equipment at The Cote, but Mr Strachan told him: “You cannot enter the bus gate/lane restriction to drop off or pick up equipment during the restriction time.”

Mr Strachan also said the council would not start an appeal investigation if the fine had already been paid.

Mr Gibson said: “I was delivering two 20kg PA systems, microphone stands, saxophones, music stands and mixers ahead of my performance.

“What does the council expect me to do?”

He said: ”The Cote is a lovely venue and they’ve been kind enough to invite me back again several times, but if I have to pay a parking fine each time I will not be returning to Tunbridge Wells.”

The town’s controversial bus lane has resulted in more than 29,000 people being fined since April 1.

Many of those have claimed the scheme was poorly signposted and they didn’t know they were breaching the rules.

Former borough councillor Matt Bailey has alleged that the tickets were incorrectly issued, since under government legislation local authorities are supposed to issue only a warning notice for a six-month period after the introduction of any new CCTV camera.

The council insists fines have been properly issued, however.

Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clarke (Con) has also called for all the fines to be refunded on the basis that so many people have been fined that there must be something unclear about the regulations.

He said: “Tunbridge Wells residents are not habitually inclined to break the law.”

The bus lane scheme is intended to reduce air and noise pollution in the town centre and to make the area safer for pedestrians and more attractive to shoppers.