THOUSANDS of pounds collected from bus-lane fines have been used to plug a hole in the parking budget of Glasgow City Council.

The local authority made £116,000 more than it thought it would in penalty charges in the past 10 months.

This money was used to offset the council's parking budget which was in the red to the tune of £297,000 ­because of non-payment and administration of parking fines. But it still leaves it £163,000 behind budget for the year to date.

The figures, tabled at the council's ­finance committee, have raised concerns about the local authority's dependance on bus-lane fines.

Former bus driver and SNP councillor Malcolm Balfour said: "What you are seeing is fines taken from people who mistakenly strayed in bus lanes - some when there wouldn't have been any buses on the road - propping up other failing budgets.

"The council has assured the money collected from bus lanes is used on 'transport strategies' but drivers have been shown no evidence of this. The fact that they collected £116,000 more than expected in the period is alarming in itself. A successful bus lane, one that is in the right place and ­adequately marked out, should not catch anyone out."

Glasgow took in £2.5 million in fines last year from 15 camera-enforced bus lanes across the city.