A Warrington mother was left fearing court action and potential damage to her credit record after a rogue taxi driver allegedly registered his vehicle at her home address — racking up over £770 in bus lane fines.
Anna Brunskill, 49, was shocked to receive 11 penalty charge notices in the post, nine of them arriving on the same day. The fines, each worth £70, were linked to a vehicle she had never seen before, and which had no connection to her or her family.
The ordeal began on 23 April when Ms Brunskill, a marketing manager, received a letter from the DVLA informing her that a vehicle had been registered at her address under an unfamiliar name. Soon after, the bus lane fines started arriving — each featuring images of a taxi, complete with roof light, caught in restricted zones.
While authorities have since called it a “genuine mistake”, Ms Brunskill isn’t convinced. “Something fishy seems to be going on when we’ve suddenly got 11 fines in the post,” she said. “We don’t know this person, we’ve lived at this address for 14 years and we don’t know the car at all.”
She also raised concerns about possible identity fraud or misuse of her address for licensing purposes. “It’s either innocent, and there’s another road with a similar name in Warrington, or it could be that he’s trying to get away without paying the fines because nobody can trace him,” she speculated. “Maybe he’s using our address so he doesn’t get in trouble for not being a local taxi.”
After contacting the DVLA and Warrington Borough Council, the fines were cancelled and her address removed from the DVLA’s records. The council confirmed no further action will be taken and attributed the issue to an error.
Despite the resolution, Ms Brunskill described the experience as “absolutely irritating” and “worrying,” noting the time and stress involved in clearing her name. “You don’t want to not pay penalty notices. You can get all sorts of things against your name if you don’t sort things like that,” she said, citing fears of county court judgments and damage to her credit rating.
The DVLA advises anyone who receives fines for a vehicle they do not own to report the matter to Action Fraud, contact the issuing authority, and write to the DVLA with all relevant information. They also warned that providing false information is a criminal offence and may be referred to the police.
Thanks for visiting DM News! If you’ve got a question, story, or anything you’d like to say, head over to DriverMatty.com — I’d love to hear from you! And while you’re there, don’t forget to check out my other websites and social media channels.
