Refunds to be paid as part of the £1million Colchester bus lane penalty charge amnesty will be issued from this week, Essex County Council has confirmed.

Following a large amount of complaints from motorists who found the reintroduced bus lane signs in the town centre unclear, Essex County Council agreed to pay back around £1m worth of penalty charge notices issued to drivers prior to January 12 this year.

The authority said letters will be sent to residents this week. Repayments will also be sent from this week in a phased approach depending on the payment method - online, cheque or cash.

Leader of Essex County Council, David Finch: “Following the decision last month regarding an amnesty on penalty charge notices and a subsequent waiving of the fines, I am pleased to confirm that motorists should shortly all be in receipt of their refunds.

“This has taken a period of time - a detailed process has been followed to ensure that residents can be refunded the correct amount of money in a number of different ways.

“Essex County Council has also made a number of improvements to the road markings in Colchester town centre to make it clearer to motorists where the bus lanes are located. We are currently awaiting DfT authorisation for additional signage, which will be installed as soon as authorisation is received.”

The Council said people do not need to contact them to obtain a refund as they are being processed automatically.