Cover up alleged over parking fines

Cover up alleged over parking fines

By Julie Wilson, Sunderland Echo
Julie.Wilson@northeast-press.co.uk

Council bosses knew nothing about £21,000 parking fines blunder almost two years before they offered to repay the cash, it has been revealed.

About 700 tickets handed to motorists who parked in Sunderland taxi ranks will be overturned after the city council admitted its traffic wardens had no power to issue them.

The council this week offered to refund the fine, totalling £21,000 to motorists who received a £30 ticket for parking at a rank since February 2003.

It has now emerged that the council discovered the mistake nearly two years ago.

The council has admitted that it uncovered the error in November 2003, but says it has only just found out that the cash had not been repaid and is looking into the issue.

The council says no tickets for the offence have been handed out by parking attendants since the error was discovered.

The parking fines blunder came to light after an investigation by political campaigner and former "Metric Martyr" Neil Herron, who said the correct legal order to enforce parking restrictions in taxi ranks had not been put in place.

Mr Herron, 42 of The Westlands, Barnes, in Sunderland, said it appeared the council had been "covering this up for nearly two years."

He added: "I think their now needs to be a full, thorough investigation by an independent outside body. I believe this is the tip of a very large iceberg."

Conservative group leader Coun Peter Wood said: "It's appalling. I can't think of any legitimate excuse, quite frankly.

"I will speak to the chairman of the environment review committee, Coun David Tate, and ask that the matter appears on the next agenda."

The Echo revealed the parking ticket blunder earlier this week.

A council spokeswoman said: "A number of penalty charge notices were issued incorrectly to motorists who were illegally parked in taxi ranks.

"Although parking in taxi ranks is illegal, it is not currently an offence for which a fixed penalty is applicable under the decriminalised parking enforcement system.

"As a result we will be taking steps to identify and reimburse the motorists concerned.

"We have identified that about 700 penalty charge notices were paid after being issued by parking attendants acting in good faith against drivers who were breaking the law and causing inconvenience to taxi drivers and the public by parking in clearly designated taxi ranks."