The Parking Appeals' 'Message to You Rudy' video clip reminding Camden Council's Head of Parking Services Rudy Bright that his council was not above the law when it comes to enforcing unlawful parking restrictions recently made front page of the Evening Standard.
When Donna became so frustrated a Southwark Council's refusal to believe that she had not overstayed parking using her Blue Badge (for her registered blind son) she contacted Parking Appeals.
What makes this case even more offensive is that Donna, a busy Mum with three children one of whom has a disability and a full-time job, supplied video evidence as proof that she was not at the location in question during the period alleged. She had gone to school where she works as a teaching assistant after dropping him off and then returned to pick him up for lunch some three hours later. The Council claimed she had been parked there all that time.
When appeals fell on deaf ears we passed the case over to Oliver Mishcon ... aka Judge Tread.
Southwark capitulated and cancelled the ticket.
This is a warning to all councils out there who think that their glory days of picking on and abusing motorists and vulnerable members of society are going to continue ... you could not be more wrong. Game's up guys ... and all those years where you have thought you were above the law are now going to come back and haunt you.
To the whistleblowers ... keep the information coming, its only a matter of time before this out of control, lawless highway robbery that passes itself off as 'civil parking enforcement' is brought to an end.
This Granada TV report surrounds the sacking of Parking Attendant Bob Pickthorpe by Crewe and Nantwich Council after he complained that it was illegal for him to issue in locations which were badly marked and after he had not been trained correctly.
Have you had a ticket in Crewe?
PRESS RELEASE
This is the BBC piece on Leeds City Council's parking enforcement regime. You be the judge of its legality. The most powerful quote was not used in the excert above so it is listed below and forms part of the file handed to the Police. The names of the Government officials have been obscured but the Police are aware of their identity.
"... attempted fraud or extortion..." not my words but the words of one Goverment official to another. Hard to believe? The document we managed to get our hands on (along with many others just as damning, is shown below).
They have to write off the money.
Get the law wrong and pay the price ... a message to councils everywhere.
The law means ... lines, signs(Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002), Traffic Orders (Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Local Authority Traffic Order Procedures 1996) and associated paperwork issued under the 1991 Road Traffic Act or the 2004 Traffic Management Act.
Employing council officers on salaries of £100k+ means you have NO EXCUSE for not understanding the law and abiding by it.
The Scotsman
23 April 2008
By JULIA KOGAN
A LOCAL authority that is making £27 million cuts to services has had to write off more than £2.5 million in unpaid parking fines, it was revealed yesterday.
A confidential report said some 34,260 tickets issued in Aberdeen over four years had had to be scrapped because of a legal mistake.The fines cover the period since the city council took control of parking from the police in 2003, and they have been written off on the orders of the local authority's city chamberlain, Susan Cooper.
Councillors are being asked to write off £82,200 for 1,034 tickets from only seven people over the same four years.
The move comes after a court ruled all parking tickets should include the date of the offence and date the ticket was issued.
A High Court judge in England made the ruling after two successful appeals against Barnet Council.Aberdeen City Council tickets used to include only the date of the parking offence, but this was changed in October 2006.
Under Aberdeen City Council's rules, individual debts of up to £10,000 can be written off without prior approval of councillors.
The report states: "Parking office staff, on the basis of advice from the office of the city solicitor and local sheriff officers, now consider the outstanding penalty charge notices issued prior to 4 October, 2006 are unrecoverable."
Labour councillor Willie Young said: "This is atrocious news. This is public money that was owed to the council. More should have been done at the time to chase it up."
The city council's plans for cuts in services have led to widespread protests.
If you knew the restrictions were unlawful and Leeds City Council had deceived the Department for Transport to get the power to fine you ... and keep the money ... would you have paid?
If you appealed a ticket but had an appeal rejected ... you need to read on.
If you went to adjudication and lost an appeal ... you MUST read this.
Leeds City Council was granted Decriminalised Parking Enforcement powers on 1st March 2005.
This was only granted after Leeds reassured the Department for Transport that all its lines, sign sand Traffic Regulation Orders would be correct by the time DPE came into operation on 31st March 2005.
The Minister then made The Road Traffic (Permitted Parking Area Special Parking Area)(Metroploitan District of Leeds) Order 2005 and they were off to a 'fine 'start.
We visited Leeds some 5 weeks ago after serious concerns were raised over the validity of the restrictions ... see our report here
The BBC LOOK NORTH piece can be seen here Campaign targets parking bays
Well, one ticket was cancelled the other day but the one in the unlawfully marked bay they are intendng to pursue.
However, a damning dossier was received over the weekend ... following a Freedom of Information request to the Government Office of Yorkshire. Such was the content of the dossier that today I handed a copy over to the BBC in Leeds (who were mentioned in the report) and a formal complaint of fraud and misfeasance in public office was made against Leeds City Council to the West Yorkshire Police. They too were handed the dossier which contained some very serious allegations about Leeds ... from the Government Office and the Department for Transport.
Indeed, at one point Phil Jones (Director Economic Affairs GOYH) to Phil Heyes (e-mail 20.07.05) states:
“The recourse for the public is to complain to the Ombudsman about malpractice, or to the Police for what would in effect be attempted fraud or extortion.
We believe that there is a possibility or even probability that someone will make a formal complaint to the Police, the Police will have to investigate, and could well be forced into taking a LA to court.”
That was in 2005.
In 2007 ... in an e-mail communication between Phil Heyes (GOYH) and John Munns (DfT) 17.07.07 in response to a question from xxxxxxx xxxxxxx in DfT TMD asking whether the Leeds Traffic signing and road marking problems had been resolved PH states:
“ In simple terms – No – if anything it’s worse”
He goes on in great deal to explain how Leeds City Council continue to enforce unlawful restrictions, in the full knowledge that they are non-compliant.
Meanwhile, anyone who has received a ticket in Leeds between 1st March 2005 and present simply e-mail us at admin@parkingappeals.co.uk title it 'LEEDS REFUNDS' and leave your contact details. You don't even need to recall precisely when you had your ticket. We will keep you fully informed of developments.
