{"id":299646,"date":"2025-07-28T22:56:20","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T22:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/299646\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T22:56:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T22:56:20","slug":"blood-bike-volunteers-fined-for-using-bus-lanes-during-life-saving-deliveries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/299646\/","title":{"rendered":"Blood bike volunteers fined for using bus lanes during life-saving deliveries"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Emergency volunteers delivering life-saving blood to Manchester\u2019s hospitals have been \u2018fined\u2019 for \u2018driving through council bus lanes\u2019.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s according to Withington MP Jeff Smith, who\u2019s secured an exemption from Manchester council for \u2018blood bike\u2019 riders so they won\u2019t be penalised for driving through the city\u2019s bus lanes, including a \u2018bus gate\u2019 outside five major hospitals.<\/p>\n

A host of medical supplies, including blood and vaccines, are delivered by Greater Manchester Blood Bike Service 24\/7 \u2018completely free of charge\u2019 to the NHS.<\/p>\n

But the charity\u2019s cars and motorbikes were not classified as \u2018authorised\u2019 or \u2018emergency\u2019 vehicles by the council when it installed a \u2018bus gate\u2019 on Oxford Road in September 2017, leading to volunteers being fined.<\/p>\n

Oxford Road is home to Manchester Royal Infirmary, the Royal Manchester Children\u2019s Hospital, and Saint Mary\u2019s women and infants\u2019 hospital, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, and Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.<\/p>\n

Council restrictions say \u2018only buses, bicycles, black cabs, emergency and authorised vehicles\u2019 can use a section of the road outside the hospitals from 6am to 9pm every day. Currently, the fixed penalty notice costs offenders \u00a370, or \u00a335 if paid within three weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it was brought to my attention that volunteers had been issued with fixed penalty notices in Manchester for contravening bus lanes and bus gates while carrying out their important work, I raised this with the City Council,\u201d the Labour MP for Withington said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am grateful that they\u2019ve agreed that blood bikers will now be exempted from these rules while doing their vital deliveries, so riders can deliver crucial medical supplies to our hospitals as easily as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreater Manchester Blood Bike Service is a fantastic organisation of volunteers who transport blood and other crucial medical supplies to and from hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n

The charity says it\u2019s the only organisation \u2018operating in Greater Manchester that transports blood, plasma, platelets, samples, vaccines, donor breast milk, and any other urgently required medical items to hospitals and healthcare sites\u2019.<\/p>\n

The service is offered \u2018at night, daytime, weekends and bank holidays\u2019 to medics \u2018completely free of charge\u2019 so \u2018the NHS [can] divert funds where they are needed most\u2019.<\/p>\n

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked Manchester council why blood bikes had not been exempted from the beginning of the bus gate, nearly eight years ago, but a spokesperson would not be drawn.<\/p>\n

They said in a statement: \u201cBlood Bikes play an essential and often life-saving role and we were more than happy to support Jeff\u2019s proposal to have an exemption for them in place as is the case with other branches of the emergency services.\u201d<\/p>\n

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