Please go careful when driving into Gloucester as Gloucester City Council might issue you with a £60 fine for crossing Llanthony Bridge.

If you are driving around Gloucester, maybe to visit Gloucester Quays, or looking for a parking space around Gloucester Docks, please go careful if your GPS satellite navigation or map directs you towards Llanthony Bridge. Arguably easy done, please do not drive across the bridge.

This famous Gloucester swingbridge in Llanthony Road was closed to all but buses, taxis, pedestrians, cyclists and emergency vehicles in July 2010. Gloucester City Council enforce the closure on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council using a discreet surveillance camera. Drivers crossing the bridge can expect a £60 fine to arrive to arrive on their doormat a few weeks later. The charge is reduced to £30 if paid within fourteen days.

The controversial bridge at Llanthony Road in Gloucester which could cost you a £60 fine if you drive over it.

In recent information that we have seen, and originally obtained under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, Gloucester City Council have stated that a total of 23,975 drivers have been issued with a penalty charge notice (PCN) at Llanthony Bridge since July 2010. We are concerned that many of these drivers were visitors to Gloucester who won't bother visiting the City again after their expensive and probably unintentional mistake.

Locals get caught too though. In fact, a motorcyclist who pushed his motorbike across the bridge received a fine, so please do not take any risks!

If each of the 23,975 drivers issued with a PCN has paid their £60 fine, then an income over £1.4 million will have been paid to Gloucester City Council. Even if every driver issued with a PCN paid within fourteen days in order to benefit from the reduced charge, the scheme will have raised £719,250 to date. It should be noted that the council have repeatedly stated that the scheme is to do with the safety of pedestrians and not to raise income for their coffers. Still, it make pretty sick reading doesn't it.

We say that the signs close to the bridge at Llanthony Road in Gloucester are confusing. This low quality sign is even angled away from the road and would be difficult for a motorist to read.

Many people have complained that the signs stating that you must not cross the bridge are confusing and difficult to understand. Following these complaints, additional signs were erected at the beginning of 2011.

Judging by the huge number of penalty charge notices that continue to be issued, the extra signs do not appear to be working. Either that, or the thousands of motorists caught driving across the bridge are doing it whilst aware that they shouldn't, but are quite happy to pay a minimum of £30 for the privilege.

On a Sunday afternoon back in August, we stood close to the bridge for ten minutes or so and saw three cars go to drive over the bridge in Llanthony Road. Luckily, we managed to stop them and point out the consequences of what they were just about to do. All three drivers said they were confused and didn't realise they couldn't drive over it.

The discreet camera close to the bridge at Llanthony Road in Gloucester.

In the current economic climate with some traders in Gloucester struggling to make ends meet, it doesn't seem a great idea to alienate visitors and tourists to Gloucester. Rather than allow them to make a costly and unintentional mistake, our suggestion to the council is to erect a simple, cheap and universally understood 'No Entry' sign at each end of the bridge. Another more expensive option would be to fit automatic bollards so that only authorised vehicles can drive across. This option has been adopted in nearby Cheltenham to allow only buses and other authorised vehicles into the Lower High Street, close to Boots Corner.

We have heard of several anecdotal stories that many people who have received a fine from Gloucester City Council for illegally crossing Llanthony Bridge had them dropped after making an appeal. If you have had a fine overturned, we would love to know the details.

Please do not let the controversial Llanthony Bridge deter you from visiting Gloucester. We want you to come and see us and, once you have, we want you to come back again - all without it costing you an extra £60. Gloucester has so much to offer including great places to shop, eat, drink, wander and of course, the historic Gloucester Cathedral. When you visit, just do not drive over Llanthony Bridge!