ALMOST £400,000 of revenue was raised by council bosses by catching out drivers in bus lanes last year – and now more cameras are being put in place.

Bosses at Southampton City Council have announced the installation of extra cameras to spot drivers illegally using the lanes meant for Southampton’s public transport.

The council will be using cameras to enforce the bus gate on Vincent’s Walk from Monday.

The only vehicles allowed to use the bus lanes are buses, taxis, private licensed hire vehicles, bicycles and emergency service vehicles.

A statement from Southampton City Council added:

"Bus lanes and bus gates are there to make journey times by buses quicker and more reliable.

“This will encourage more people to use buses, helping to reduce congestion and improve air quality across the city.”

The new cameras will operate 24/7 and the penalty has been set at £60, reduced to £30 if paid within two weeks.

The authority also revealed that a total of £385,634 in revenue was brought in from the three existing bus lane cameras around the city throughout 2017.

That was as a result of 15,596 penalty charge notices being issued.

The council is allowing motorists a grace period of three weeks for the new location with a warning letter instead of a fine.

City councillor Jacqui Rayment, cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “This is a way of improving sustainable travel around the city and we hope this will encourage more people to use buses, help reduce congestion and improve air quality in the city.

"The income will be reinvested to make improvements to roads and transport in the city.”

The city council also said that since the installation of the three other cameras around the city, the illegal use of the lanes has dropped by 80 per cent on average.

The cameras are based in Shirley Road, New Road and Northam Road.

In March last year, figures revealed that the Shirley Road camera brought in around £1,300 every day, New Road another £909 and Northam Road £454 each day, with the council penalising on average, 129 drivers daily.

The Northam Road and Shirley Road cameras were set up in July 2016, with New Road installed in October of the same year.

The council said since their installation in 2016 contraventions of these bus lanes had dropped by 80 per cent on average.