The number of police vehicles using an Aberdeen street they are banned from unless on emergency calls has dropped from more than 400 a month to as low as 11 after details of the high use came to light.
In the first four months after the bus gate system on Broad Street went live in August, 992 police vehicles were recorded by the new cameras – with no fines being issued by Aberdeen City Council.
The road was shut for much of November and all of December for the Christmas Market but between January and April, only 111 police staff were recorded going through the gate without receiving a fine.
Under the rules of Broad Street’s bus gate, only bus drivers, cyclists and emergency services vehicles attending urgent incidents or carrying out “other legitimate work” may drive through.
Aberdeen City Council has sent 14 fines to the police for perceived breaches – but they were all annulled after reviews showed the officers had gone through for legitimate reasons.
The drop in police drivers on Broad Street comes after the Press and Journal reported in December that about 10 vehicles with police livery were recorded going through Broad Street every day from August 17 to November 4.
Concerns were raised that officers were using the route as a shortcut to the force’s Queen Street HQ.
Throughout the entirety of April, just 11 police vehicles were recorded on the Broad Street cameras.
Conservative councillor Ryan Houghton last night said it was “only fair” that the same rules apply to everyone.
He said: “Everyone is expected to play by the same rules, including the police.
“There was a grace period to give drivers time to adapt after Broad Street reopened but we’re past that now, and it’s only fair this is applied across the board.
“Of course everyone can understand when the police need to get somewhere fast for an emergency, and hopefully it’s only used for that from now on.”
North East MSP Lewis Macdonald said: “Clearly, a bit of publicity has encouraged police drivers to ask themselves if they need to use Broad Street for each journey to and from headquarters on Queen Street, or if they should go the long way round.”
Chief Inspector Martin Mackay said: “All 14 fines have been reviewed, and it has been established that on all occasions these marked vehicles were being driven for a policing purpose, by on-duty police officers who were responding to immediate calls for service.
“These have been annulled as a result.”
A city council spokesman said: “We have had discussions with police about the appropriate use of the route, so they are clear on the clauses within the traffic order for Broad Street.”
SNP councillor, and former police officer, Gordon Townson last week said he had noticed “a number” of marked police cars using the street “without flashing blue lights” and asked what local authority bosses were doing to monitor the situation.
Council officers said they had discussed the matter with the force, and fed back the registration plates of the cars involved to force top brass.
