NEARLY 250 council workers have been stung for driving the local authority's vehicles in city bus lanes in the last two years.

Staff in Glasgow City Council-registered cars and vans were caught on camera wrongly driving in the lanes 95 times last year and 151 times in 2012.

The penalty fines issued as a result totalled around £7400.

Earlier this week we told you that 101,187 motorists paid out £2.5 million to the council in bus lane fines last year.

The figures have emerged following a Freedom of Information request by the Evening Times.

We also asked for the number of fines issued for cars used by Glasgow City Council officials, as well as those used by arm's length organisations, including Cordia, City Building, City Parking, City Property, Glasgow Life, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau, Community Safety and Jobs and Business Glasgow.

The results show that local authority workers were caught illegally driving in the bus lane in Glassford Street in the city centre - 22 in 2013 and 50 in 2012.

This is also the lane in which most city drivers were also given penalties for illegally driving on last year - 23,250 motorists were snared, raking in £545,280 for Glasgow City Council.

A total of 22 council cars were also caught driving in the bus lane on Victoria Road last year, with 33 workers falling foul of the restrictions in 2012.

Glasgow City Council say that staff members caught wrongly driving in the bus lanes were asked to pay the fines from their own pockets.

The council keeps a log of who is driving which cars and when.

The time and date of the contravention is compared against these records to identify which staff member is responsible.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "If a council vehicle is issued with a notice then it must be paid by the individual driving."

There are a total of 173 bus lanes of varying lengths across Glasgow but of these only 15 are regulated by cameras, which produce automatic fines for vehicles caught in them when prohibited.

Some of the camera-enforced lanes restrict use 24- hours a day, seven days a week, while in others cars are only banned during peak times.

We told you this week how Glasgow City Council made more than £2m profit from bus lane fines last year - after the £437,453 cost of administering the fines system was deducted.

The council maintain this cash is spent on "transport strategies" to promote walking, cycling and public transport in the city.

They added that cash also goes towards investment in roads, through tackling "key congestion points".

But a motoring expert told the Evening Times that the amount of cash generated could be a sign that the bus lane scheme is not working properly.

Neil Greig, of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said the measure of a successful bus lane is not one which rakes in thousands of pounds.

He said high earning lanes like Glassford Street, where there are concerns about signage and access to an NCP car park, should be reviewed.

Mr Greig added that the council must do more to convince the public that the bus lanes are not a money-making scheme.

linzi.watson@eveningtimes.co.uk