Parking fines on verge of collapsing across the country.....this time York

Parking bay row
From: This is York
first published Friday 7th Oct 2005.

PARKING bays will be repainted in York streets this weekend after council bosses admitted they were wrong.

Highways chiefs said they would be willing to reconsider the cases of some motorists fined for parking illegally in the bays.

The authority said there seemed little doubt that the majority of motorists would have no problem understanding the marking of the bays, despite the "minor errors", but it was today painting white lines black to remove any confusion.

However, Richard Bentley, a traffic signs expert, said: "My understanding of the law is that if the signs were wrong, then money taken is a debt to the motorist and therefore should be returned.

"The bays are non-prescribed traffic signs, which are illegal, and the authority in choosing to use such signs has acted beyond its powers. This is not a technical issue, it is a matter of the law."
A retired York police officer, who raised the parking bays issue with City of York Council just over a week ago, warned that if refunds were not given, he would lodge a complaint with the Local Government Ombudsman, claiming maladministration.

He also claimed that a gap in the double yellow lines in Parliament Street meant the restrictions could not be enforced.

Another motorist, Keith Hughes, revealed how he had recently been excused paying a fine after the council said it had "concerns as to the validity" of another sign, this time on a post outside York Magistrates Court, saying: "Magistrates vehicles only."

City of York Council said in a statement: "There is a minor error with a very small percentage of the council's on-street parking bays.

"This problem has been noticed by a number of other local authorities across the country, including Leeds, Hull, Harrogate and Scarborough.

"The error has arisen due to a tiny change in the small print concerning how parking bays should be marked and used. Bays marked under the old legislation comply fully with the law, but more recent ones may have an extra white line."

The council denied that the yellow lines in Parliament Street were negated by the unpainted gap.

It said that, as in all cases where a Penalty Charge Notice had been issued, a motorist had the right to challenge it and if the notice had been issued incorrectly, it would be cancelled.
"That principle applies to Penalty Charge Notices that have been paid if some new evidence comes to light that might have made a difference to the original decision made at any representation stage," said spokesman Peter Evely.

"For persons who have paid without making a representation they have accepted that they have been in error and the matter is therefore closed. If anyone feels that they should have their case re-examined then we are happy to consider the circumstances afresh if they write in with all of the necessary details."