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Couple fined after bus lane camera photographs text on woman’s top

David and Paula Knight were fined £90 after their car number plate was mistaken for the writing on the T-shirt of a passer-by.

Furvah Shah
Monday 18 October 2021 11:06 EDT
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David and Paula Knight received a fine after their number plate was mistaken for the text on the T-shirt of a passer-by
David and Paula Knight received a fine after their number plate was mistaken for the text on the T-shirt of a passer-by (BBC)

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A couple were mistakenly fined after a camera mistook the writing on a woman’s top for their car number plate.

Davjd and Paula Knight from Surrey received a fine of £90 from Bath council for being in a bus lane, despite not having been near the city.

When looking at the photographic evidence provided by the council, the couple found that there was no vehicle in the CCTV image but a woman, wearing a T-shirt printed with the word ‘knitter’, walking through a bus lane.

The couple’s vehicle registration, which reads ‘KN19 TER’ was mistaken as the passer-by in the T-shirt.

The couple contacted the council, who ‘burst out laughing’ and proceeded to waive the fine.

“The fine had already gone up from £60 to £90 because we hadn’t paid within 30 days,” said Ms Knight to the Daily Mail.

The 54-year-old mother-of-two said: “Obviously no one had looked at the picture and it had been computer generated.”

Mr Knight, 54, said: “We’ve been laughing about it a lot. There was no way I was going to pay for a woman walking in a bus lane with a funny T-shirt on!”

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