Parking Fines Gaffe

Tickets issued after error discovered
By Ross Smith
(0191) 201 6286 ross.smith@ncjmedia.co.uk

Traffic wardens in Sunderland have handed out 78 tickets to people parking in taxi ranks after it was discovered they have no power to do so, the council confirmed yesterday.

Officers at Sunderland Council failed to put an order in place to allow parking attendants to issue fines for the offence.

They now face having to repay 700 fines given before the error was discovered in November 2003, at a cost to the authority of £21,000.

And yesterday, the authority admitted 78 tickets have been given out since then-saying it was a “mistake” by its contractors NCP.

A council spokeswoman said yesterday: “They have been issued in error by NCP. We instructed NCP to stop issuing penalty charge notices for vehicles parked in taxi ranks.”

The council had previously insisted no tickets were issued by wardens after November 2003.

She said the 78 motorists would be entitled to the same refund as those who were fined before the error was spotted. She said the council was still “looking into” why no refunds were offered before The Journal raised the issue last week- 21 months after the council realised the tickets were invalid.

Political campaigner Neil Herron uncovered the error.

NCP spokesman Tim Cowen said: “Of course we are disappointed that we have issued over 70 tickets with an incorrect code in the past two years, but the vast majority were issued by one parking attendant whose performance was poor and has now left the company. A handful were issued by new starters who has failed to take on board the briefing about taxi ranks and we have now updated our processes to ensure that all new starters fully understand the situation regarding taxi ranks.”