Cambridgeshire County Council has been fined £6m for health and safety breaches which resulted in three fatalities on its guided busway.
Jennifer Taylor, Steve Moir and Kathleen Pitts died after collisions on the busway between 2015 and 2021.
The council previously admitted two charges under Section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which related to members of the public being hit by vehicles while attempting to reach designated crossings.
In sentencing at Cambridge Crown Court, Judge Mark Bishop said the authority had taken a 'rigid and blinkered response' to the fatalities, as well as other near misses.
The council’s chief executive, Dr Stephen Moir, said the local authority had a duty to uphold ‘the highest standards of health and safety at work,’ adding it had ‘fallen far short of meeting these standards.’
‘I am not only truly sorry for these failures, but I am also deeply disappointed that the council has found itself in this position. This should never have happened,’ he added.