Enforcement officials in Northamptonshire are pledging to crack down on vehicles illegally using bus lanes in order to improve journey times for bus users.

The County Council proposal centres on reliable journey times for bus travel as a way of encouraging people to start using buses and reducing car volumes and congestion.

The council’s Cabinet will be presented with a report for approval at a meeting next week which will outline plans to use CCTV and number plate recognition technology.

The measures will be introduced at sites in Northampton and Wellingborough.

The council says the need for such measures has already been scoped-out, with three trial sites in the county having had cameras installed in 2017 to check the level of contraventions which saw hundreds of contraventions per day.

Cllr Jason Smithers, county council cabinet member for transport, highways and environment, said, “With population growth and increasing car ownership, the volume of traffic on ours roads is growing.

“Part of the solution to reducing congestion and pollution is to encourage people to use more sustainable forms of transport including buses.

“However a real challenge to this is guaranteeing reliable journey times. I believe this plan will make significant improvements in making bus travel an attractive option for commuters.”

The bus lane enforcement proposal is an extension of the existing parking enforcement controls.

This follows a separate decision to extend bus lane enforcement on two roads in Northampton to 24 hours per day, in an attempt to encourage more cycling.