AN OUTRAGED bus driver is fighting back after being fined for parking his bus at a bus station.

Peter Fenton has been a bus driver in Bolton for just over three years. But for the first time, he says he has received a fine from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) for parking his bus in an out of service bus bay at Bolton Interchange while on his break.

The Farnworth man said: “I do the same routes every day, the parking officers know me and they know my bus and a lot of them know I’ve got my break in the morning. I’ve only got a small bus, I pull up drop my passengers off and I pull over out of the way.”

The 48-year-old told The Bolton News that he has been instructed to leave his bus by the courts in Blackhorse Street in the past instead of parking at the interchange. Something which costs him valuable minutes of his vital morning break just before 11am, he says.

Mr Fenton said: “I parked in an out of service bus bay. They want me to park by the law courts, but I only have 35 minutes for my break. It takes time to drive around from the interchange, there might be traffic, and then drive back again.

“I only have time to have a brew, go to the toilet and then I’ve got to be back again. I don’t have any time to get any food, you can’t stop for a hot dinner.

“After getting out at 5am, I’m absolutely starving by the time I get a morning break. It does not give us chance to get a meal in 10 minutes.”

Just after leaving for his break, he says he received a fine: “I have not paid it. I’m annoyed and upset. I’m allowed to go for a break. We’re not driving our own vehicles, we’re driving service bus vehicles.”

“The bus was there less than 10 minutes before they fined me. I’m driving all day and I’m entitled to a full break.”

In response to Mr Fenton’s complaints, TfGM’s Interim Head of Facilities Management, Howard Hartley, said: “The safety of all interchange users is paramount and that is why we have a managed system of designated parking areas for vehicles not in use, ensuring the safe operation and flow of buses at what is a very busy interchange facility.

“Ensuring drivers have adequate time in which to safely park their vehicle and take a break from work is a matter for the operator.”