Disappearing Sunderland Parking Ticket as major Road Safety Problem is exposed

Yesterday I parked my vehicle in Holmeside in Sunderland in a deliberate attempt to get a PCN to highlight the fact that NCP were issuing in Loading Bays which were illegally marked.
These bays are 1.53m wide ... and as you can see, they are not even wide enough to fit a car, never mind a van.
Parking Attendants report that the location has always been fruitful.














The legislation is quite clear and nowhere does it state that a loading bay can be as narrow as this.

Trouble for Sunderland Council is that there is no excuse as even someone with the most basic of signing knowledge will realise that you cannot create a bay that is not wide enough to fit a vehicle in.
The disabled bay and other loading bays in the same stretch are similarly incorrectly marked yet the Council have allowed NCP to keep enforcing.

However, there is a more serious aspect to all of this as Traffic Management and Sign Consultant Richard Bentley points out. In a series of photographs provided to Mr. Bentley he expressed his horror at the one below:















It can be clearly seen that there is a loading bay outsdide Lewins behind the zigzags. It is an endorseable offence to park on the zigzags and because the bay is not wide enough to fit a car then the motorist is being induced by the Council's roadmarkings to break the law. That aside, the zigzag affects everything from 'hedgeback to hedgeback' prohibiting parking because it is within the confines of the pedestrian crossing.

Mr. Bentley states: "There is clear evidence that this is dangerous and against the law and potentially has a major impact on road safety"

The Department for Transport became aware of this yesterday and I understand that a member of the Transport Team was despatched immediately from the Government Office of the North East to inspect the whole of Holmeside.

Surprisingly my PCN was removed sometime yesterday afternoon. NCPs Contract Manager confirmed at 8.40am that they had done so on the instructions of the Council. I am currently awaiting a call back from the Council for the reason.

Councillor Mike Tansey was so concerned at the potential safety problem that he went to take his own photographs (I must point out hat my vehicle was not parked within the vicinity of the zigzags) this morning. He spotted two officials measuring the road who informed him that they were from the Department for Transport. (It has since been confirmed that they were from the Government Office of the North East acting on behalf of the Department for Transport).

Perhaps now Sunderland City Council's cavalier attitude to line and sign requirements will at last come under serious scrutiny especially since there have been a number of very serious accidents in Holmeside over the past few years.

We are awaiting confirmation from a member of the public as to the exact date in February 2001 when the Government Office of the North East was informed of the problems with the two Pelican Crossings in Holmeside.