Marshalls, of Sutton on Trent, bus driver fined for parking on bus stand at Mount Street, Nottingham

A minibus driver shared has been fined for parking at a bus stand ­— which he has been using for years.

Jacob Marshall is a driver for Marshalls of Sutton-on-Trent and regularly drives into Nottingham city centre to drop and collect passengers.

On March 16, Jacob returned to the minibus to discover he had been issued with a £70 fine.

The minibus was parked at the bus stand in Mount Street, which is one of the only bus stands in the centre where parking is permitted.

“It was appropriately parked as a bus, in a bus stand, like many of our vehicles, also buses, have done for years,” wrote Jacob in a letter to Nottingham City Council.

“Unlike many things these days it identifies itself as a bus, because it actually is, a bus.

"So when is a bus not a bus? What if in a world of self-identification it identifies as a bus? And does Nottingham council want to encourage or discourage visitors?"

The vehicle is taxed as a bus, requires a licence and used as a bus to transport passengers.

The fine would be reduced to £35 if paid within a seven day period, although Jacob has decided to appeal the fine because he believes in his right to park in the place he has done for years.

“If the council have found a magical way of not classing a bus as a bus we’d love to know as we’ll no longer need a bus licence to drive it and that would perhaps help with our shortage of bus drivers and recruitment,” added Mr Marshall.

A Nottingham City Council spokesman said: “All bus stops are for boarding and alighting only from buses, including minibuses, and enforcement officers will always give a ten-minute observation period or longer if needed, if passengers are getting on and off the bus.

“However, parking is not permitted at a bus stop and in this instance the vehicle was observed with no driver or passengers present for more than ten minutes, which is why a ticket was issued.

“However, we have since revoked it because one of the signs in the area had been turned around which we accept could have led to some confusion. This has been rectified and so anyone using this space to park can expect to receive a penalty notice.”