England | Council fined £6m for multiple failures on Guided Busway

HSE | Cambridgeshire County Council has been fined £6 million after pleading guilty to serious safety failings on its Guided Busway that led to three deaths and multiple injuries over a ten-year period.

The prosecution follows a long and complex HSE investigation, where incidents continued to happen despite regular enforcement action from the regulator.

A guided busway is purpose-built track exclusively for buses to bypass traffic congestion. Three people died after being hit by buses on the network. Jennifer Taylor, 81, died in darkness at an unlit crossing in November 2015. Three years later Steve Moir, 50, was killed after his bike struck a kerb, causing him to fall into the path of an oncoming bus. Kathleen Pitts, 52, lost her life in October 2021. Two young people also suffered serious injuries in separate incidents.

Despite the first fatality in 2015, the council didn’t conduct its first risk assessment until August 2016 – five years after the Guided Busway first opened.

The HSE investigation also found that basic safety measures were missing across the busway including lighting of some crossing points, appropriate speed limits for buses, sufficient measures to separate pedestrians and other users including cyclists from passing buses, and adequate signage warning of dangers.

In a statement, Mrs Taylor’s family: “Jenny was deeply loved by all of us, and we dearly miss her. As a family we would like to thank the HSE for their tireless efforts in bringing this case to court. We hope that the lessons learned will lead to sustained safety improvements and help avoid tragedy, injury and suffering in the future.”

Mr Moir, an active cyclist who coached local youth football and served as a school governor, was thrown into the path of a bus travelling at 56mph after losing control on the narrow maintenance path running alongside the busway.

Mr Moir’s family said: “The loss of Steve has left us devastated and there is now a big hole in our lives that cannot be filled. Steve was a loving, caring family man with a great sense of humour and a zest for life who brought laughter and joy to our lives every day and his presence is deeply missed by us all.”

Following his death, the council reduced the speed limit to 30mph in the area in question, but this failed to prevent the subsequent fatal incident involving Kathleen Pitts in October 2021. Just three weeks after Ms Pitts’ death, a 16-year-old cyclist suffered life-changing injuries at a designated crossing point.

After the hearing, HSE principal inspector Graham Tompkins said: “This is a truly tragic case where three people lost their lives and others suffered serious injuries in incidents that were completely preventable.

“Had Cambridgeshire County Council properly assessed and managed the risks on the Guided Busway from the outset, these deaths simply would not have happened. Even after the first fatality in 2015, the council failed to take adequate action to protect the public. They chose to appeal our enforcement action instead of acting on our concerns and incidents continued to happen.

“Simple measures could have saved lives and life changing injuries. Instead, the council operated this major transport system for almost a decade without many of the basic safety measures we see in every village, town and city being in place.

“The families of those who died have shown remarkable courage throughout this process, and I hope this prosecution brings some measure of closure for them, though nothing can make up for the loss of their loved ones.

“Our risk assessment guidance may be more commonly used for workplaces such as factories and construction sites, but the same principles apply for busy spaces such as major transport infrastructure. The possible risks to people and the movement of passengers, pedestrians and others needs to be thought through.”

Cambridgeshire County Council of New Shire Hall, Emery Crescent, Enterprise Campus, Alconbury Weald, Huntingdon pleaded guilty to two offences under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974. The charges related to failing to protect the public both at crossing points and while travelling alongside the busway. The council was ordered to pay a fine of £6 million plus costs.

Investigation findings

The HSE investigation identified safety management failings within Cambridgeshire County Council for the operation of the Busway for a period of just over 10 years.

These failures related to two distinct risks; members of the public seeking to cross the Busway at designated crossing points and risks to members of the public when they were merely in its vicinity, or seeking to travel alongside it. Despite interventions by the HSE which included two Improvement Notices, Cambridgeshire County Council failed to adequately manage safety on the Busway until late 2021.

The Busway opened in 2011, but it was not until August 2016 after one death and several serious injuries on the Busway, that the first risk assessment was undertaken.

This risk assessment did not adequately assess the risk to members of the public crossing, or being alongside, the Busway. For example, in locations where the Busway was more crowded and where the adjacent access pathway was narrow, congestion was more likely. This would lead to people being jostled or unknowingly deliberately moving into the path of a bus, as in some sections there were no separators such as grass verges, physical barriers or fences to keep them to the access pathway.

Furthermore, Cambridgeshire County Council did not consider other measures to reduce the risk to members of the public, such as speed limits and the provision of lighting and suitable signage.

— Accurate at time of publication | April 2025