Who has parked their yard on my car?

The Journal
Thursday, November 2, 2006

In an ironic twist to the saga over Sunderland's parking regime, "metric martyr" Neil Herron believes council traffic orders are illegitimate - because they give measurements in yards.
He made the discovery six years after he took on the council over the prosecution of market trader Steve Thoburn for selling bananas by the pound.
During his current campaign against parking enforcement in the city, he came across traffic orders for Coronation Street, which measure bays in yards.
The street is one of several in the city where he has collected parking tickets as part of his campaign.
Mr Herron said: "Not only are they going to have to cancel my tickets at the locations where they are using unlawful imperial measures in the traffic regulation orders, they are also going to have to admit that they must refund everyone else unlawfully ticketed at these locations."
He points to guidance issued by the Department for Trade and Industry that says use of imperial measurements by public sector bodies could render documentation "liable to legal challenge".
However, the same guidance says "road traffic signs and ... related distance and speed measurements" are exempt. The DTI and Department for Transport each said it was the other's responsibility.
But a DfT spokesman did say: "Our advice would be to encourage people to use metric, but as far as we're aware, it's not a legal requirement to do so."
A Sunderland Council spoleswoman said: " The road markings are consistent with the order. Therefore the motorist would not be misled as to the nature of the restrictions imposed."