A MOTHER has blamed poor signs after she was fined by police for driving in a bus lane.

Helen Cairns, 44, said she would not have driven along the bus route in Hythe Station Road had there been more signs or road markings.

She was stopped and fined £30 by police, but the recruitment company director said she believed the warnings for motorists were insufficient.

By law, bus lanes must be signed in advance with repeater signs every 300metres or at every side road junction.

They must also have a wide, solid white line with the words Bus Lane on the road and at every side road junction.

But Mrs Cairns, of Turner Rise, Colchester, said: “There were no markings on the road, nothing to say it is a bus lane but a blue sign at the side of the road, which I didn’t even see until it was too late.

“Surely it should be more clearly marked.

“The police must be making a mint.”

The police say they are looking to crack down on those abusing the bus lane.

PC Paul Austin said: “Hythe Station Road is part of our routine patrols as we are concerned about the number of drivers using the bus lane illegally.

“We want to make the lane as safe as possible for pedestrians and other road users and this is why we will continue to deal robustly with those breaking the law.”

Mrs Cairns said she planned to write to Essex County Council, which is responsible for road signs as well as the town’s MP, Bob Russell.