One of The Big Lemon’s buses has received a parking ticket for stopping on a bus stand in Brighton, after the driver parked up to get some refreshment during a break. The incident was posted on Twitter where it was picked up by the City Council’s transport department who quickly responded with details of how to lodge an appeal. The appeal was promptly lodged, and the penalty was cancelled today.

A City Council spokesperson said:
“I understand that the reason the PCN was issued is because the bus was not signwritten and the CEO [Civil Enforcement Officer] had no way of identifying if the bus was in fact a local bus or a vehicle from out of town. The contracts team have now sent a message to all of the CEOs to advise that this bus is a local bus and should not be issued with PCNs if the same situation arises again.” Although the bus, which is new to the fleet, is indeed not yet signwritten, it does have The Big Lemon’s name and address written on the side by the passenger door, as well as an Operator’s Licence disc in the windscreen showing the company name.

The Big Lemon’s Office Manager Simon Pearson-Wood, who lodged the appeal, said:
“It seems a bit daft giving a bus a parking ticket for stopping in a bus stand, especially when it was clearly identifiable as one of our fleet which are used on two bus routes in the city. No harm done though, it seems they’ve realised their mistake and hopefully it won’t happen again, and we’re all very impressed that the Council responded to our post on Twitter!”