A motorist has
beaten a council in a court battle over an illegal 'No Entry' sign which has
been catching motorists out for 30 years.
Eddie
Mustoe, 54, was stopped by police after driving through the road sign and given
a £60 fine with three penalty points.
But instead
of accepting the penalty he researched road signs and proved the one in
question at a busy junction in Bristol was illegal.
It consists
of a grey rectangle with the standard circular red and white no entry sign
above the words 'Except buses, coaches, taxis and cyclists' in black and white.
Mr Mustoe
discovered that by law no entry signs at the entrance to roads where some
vehicles are allowed should be designed differently.
They should
show a box with the word "except": followed by images of the vehicles
allowed such as a bus and bicycle and the word "taxi".
Mr Mustoe, a
motor trader, argued the sign was ambiguous and refused to give way over the
fine, telling Bristol City Council they were in the wrong.
They
insisted the sign was legal and the row went to court and Mr Mustoe has now won
his case after a nine-month battle.
The
dad-of-three was cleared of one count of failing to comply with a lawfully
placed road sign by magistrates in Yate, South Gloucestershire, last Thursday.
The case has
cost him more than £3,000 to stand his ground but Mr Mustoe has been told he
can reclaim around two thirds of that from the council.
The council
continue to insist that the sign is "clear in intention" and have not
yet said whether it will be taken down from the junction at Stapleton Road in
the Easton area.
Mr Mustoe said:
"Although it cost a lot, I was determined to fight the case, whatever the
cost and even though it has taken the best part of 12 months, it has been worth
it.
"I
think places like this are used as cash cows and so I will be talking to the
council to get the signage changed or it getting made into a proper bus
lane."
He added:
"I was stuck in the lane not knowing what to do and I could not reverse,
so I had to drive down it.
"The
police followed me and pulled me over and when I looked at the sign I thought
it was like no other I had seen before and so it just did not make sense to
me."
Solicitor
Marcus Lavell, who fought his case, said the sign would have caught out
thousands of motorists since being put up in the 1980s.
He said the
landmark ruling could open the floodgates to other drivers who have been
wrongly fined in the past to take action against the council.
Mr Lavell
said: "Placing signs on or near the highway is strictly controlled and can
only be done in line with the relevant regulations.
"Given
the duration of the sign's use and the fact that this is a major junction in
the centre of Bristol I would have thought several thousand motorists would
have been caught over the years.
"Placing
an illegal road sign near the highway could expose Bristol City Council in its
position as highway authority to liability."
Mr Mustoe
was cleared of the charge after magistrates found that the Stapleton Road sign
did not conform with regulations set out in the Traffic Signs Manual.
Avon and
Somerset police said no motorists had been issued tickets by them for
contravening the sign in the past 12 months.
A force
spokesman said: "It is the responsibility of the local authority to ensure
that all signage on our roads is correct and in accordance with national
guidance.
"Our
role is to enforce it. We have made Bristol City Council aware of the outcome
of this case with a view to them reviewing the signage as soon as
possible."
Bristol City
Council said: "We feel that the existing signs are clear in their
intention, but we will look to make changes in order to ensure that the
arrangement is fully enforceable in the future.
"We are
currently investigating the best way to modify the signage to achieve this.
"We no
longer have a record of the authorisation as the movement restrictions at this
junction were introduced more than 30 years ago.
"The
enforcement of moving traffic offences is a police matter."
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