Woman concerned about receiving 28 fines for the same offence

A woman from Coventry was shocked to receive nearly 30 penalty charge notices in the post from the council, all for the same offence. Janet Jones, from Cheylesmore, was left confused when 28 letters from Coventry council arrived on her doorstep, each of them a penalty charge notice for £60.

All of the letters allege that Ms Jones used a bus lane on November 21. The same image of Ms Jones’ car at the junction is printed on the letters, as well as the same notice reference number and issue date. Ms Jones said that she accepts that she made a mistake and will deal with the penalty.



But she is concerned about the expenses the council are incurring by printing and posting the reproductions. She said: “I know I took a wrong turn. I accept that. I don’t mind paying, it’s not a problem. The problem is that I got 28 letters at the same time.” The council spend 51p for every first class letter sent from their Post and Print Service.

To send all 28 copies to Ms Jones house would have cost the council £14.28 in postage alone. Further unknown costs would have been incurred for printing. Ms Jones added: “I just wonder how many other people they’ve done this too and how much has been spent.” A council spokesperson said: “We apologise to Ms Jones for being sent so many letters. We’re trying to find out exactly how this happened, though it appears to be a software glitch on an automated system.”