Vicar Lane: Leeds Kirkgate Market trader hit with 11 fines in one month says bus gate camera is 'faulty'
A Leeds market trader has called for an investigation into a bus gate camera after he was hit with 11 fines in the space of a single month - despite arguing he wasn’t in the area at the times listed.
Sengy Tang, who owns popular Vietnamese street kitchen Banh & Mee, was left perplexed by a sudden wave of penalty charge notices (PCNs) that were sent to him by Leeds City Council in May - all alleging he’d breached restrictions on Vicar Lane.
Since 2021, access to a stretch of the city centre road has been restricted, with only buses, hackney carriages and cyclists permitted during peak hours - between 7am and 10am, and again from 4pm to 7pm.
Sengy explained: “Since the bus gate has been there, I’ve never had a ticket. But suddenly, I was given 11 tickets in one month. The CCTV must be using the wrong time, because this has never happened before - we know the rules.”
Mr Tang said that his team schedule deliveries precisely to avoid the restricted window, with a driver typically leaving the business' base in Lower Wortley at around 9.50am, arriving at the market with supplies after 10am when the restriction ends.
He continued: “We’ve appealed the tickets because we weren’t even in the area at that time, but the council has written back with some waffle about the GPS system being excellent and said the camera can't be wrong.
“They said it even accounts for ‘planetary wobble’. Now they’re telling me I've got to go to a traffic tribunal because my appeals weren’t upheld.”
The incident has caused not only financial strain, but considerable stress for the team who have had to compile their own evidence in defence.
A breakthrough came when Mr Tang spoke to another Kirkgate Market trader, who received a fine on May 27 - but was able to produce a shop receipt that showed he could not have been near the bus gate at the time the PCN claimed.
Since then, Mr Tang has gathered his own evidence, submitting CCTV footage to the council that appears to show his delivery van pulling into the market after 10am.
“We think the camera is out of time by about 26 minutes and, if that’s right, then the council could have to refund a lot of tickets,” he said.
Mr Tang runs one of Kirkgate Market’s favourite eateries, Banh & Mee, with his wife Mylinh Chiem. The vibrant Vietnamese food stall which opened in 2016 has built a loyal following for its small but popular menu of pho and grilled meat baguettes that reflect the couple’s roots.
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “We understand that the 11 PCN tickets issued to Mr Tang have been appealed which will be dealt with at an upcoming independent tribunal on 13 August. Until the decision of the tribunal in August, all tickets issued to Mr Tang will be on hold.”