The Humber Bridge Board has been told it should not have fined a motorist whose registration details mistakenly included Os instead of zeroes.
Tony Hughes, 79, from Branston, Lincolnshire, received two fines, of £27, for crossing the bridge on June 22. He claims the error was made by a till operator inputting his details at a store that used a PayPoint service to pre-pay for his journey.
The RAC said there was no justification for the fines and called on the bridge operator to “look at its processes to ensure others don’t get caught out”.
The bridge board quashed the fine on appeal and said it could see there had been an “honest mistake”.
A bridge board spokesperson added: “In the small number of cases where people have made an honest mistake, we have considered their case in detail and waived the admin fees completely, and we will continue to do this.”
Hughes said he always said zero and never O when saying his private registration plate, which begins Y700, to avoid confusion.
“I use the phonetic alphabet – Y for Yankee, seven double zero,” he said. “Even if we’re registering at a hotel, I always do it, it’s a habit.”
In a letter from the bridge board, confirming the cancellation of the fines, it said: “Going forward, when purchasing guest crossings, I would recommend checking the PayPoint cashier is entering your registration number correctly.”