Now Burnley...Parkwise again.

Burnley Express
Disabled Driver's Bailiffs Fury

A COUPLE have furiously declared that Parkwise should be "run off the streets" after having to fork out almost £300 to bailiffs – for a ticket they claim they have never received.

On Wednesday morning, bailiffs turned up at the Coal Clough Lane home of Mr and Mrs Brian and Yvonne Campbell demanding £293.58 or property to that value.Fearing they would lose their furniture and electrical items, they borrowed the money to pay the fine, but Mr Campbell is adamant he did not receive the notice and is vowing to see a solicitor for advice.Mr Campbell, who drives a mobility car, says that, last year, he parked in a bay and displayed his disabled badge but when he returned to the vehicle a short time later, there was a plastic fixed penalty notice sleeve, but no ticket.
He said he and his wife looked around the car, but there was no ticket. They concluded that, having recently received a ticket and successfully appealed it, their friends had played a practical joke on them.

Mr Campbell says he then received a letter saying that the fine, which had gone up to £60, had not been paid and he telephoned Parkwise to explain the situation. "They just didn't want to know. The attitude was: you've done the crime now pay the fine," he fumed.It emerged that the ticket had been issued because Mr Campbell's blue clock was not displayed, even though, he says, disabled drivers can park in bays all day.

Parkwise claimed to have photographic evidence, but Mr Campbell has never seen it.A demand for £90 then arrived and Mr Campbell says he again telephoned Parkwise. From then until the bailiffs posted their notice on Tuesday, Mr Campbell says he received no word from Parkwise or the courts.
"Something needs to be done about them. Parkwise need to be run off the streets of Burnley. They are deliberately targeting disabled people and it's not right," he said.

A Burnley Council spokesman has said: "The ticket was issued in Ormerod Street on June 25th. A Notice to Owner was sent to Mr Campbell at his home address on July 29th alerting him to the fact the fine had not been paid and, as a result, had risen to £60. There was no contact from Mr Campbell and on September 9th another letter was sent saying the fine had gone up to £90, but again there was no contact from Mr Campbell."

Since then the matter has gone through the due process. He agreed that he had received the Notice to Owner, which makes it clear that if someone wants to argue the case, for example that they didn't know they had received a ticket, they should do so in writing. We have no record of Mr Campbell writing to Parkwise to put his case."
17 February 2006