However, as one local authority has already confirmed ... they have not passed this information on to the Parking Attendants or the enforcement contractor. Therefore, Parking Attendants are continue to issue tickets in areas where the council are aware that it is against the law to do so.
I am sure that Mr. Cowene will want to ensure that his company does everything within the law and we will await his confirmation that he will contact the local authorities on this point as a matter of urgency as it is a rather serious matter to ask motorists for money for an alleged contravention which cannot be deemed to have occurred at a location where there is no lawful restriction.
If you want to know exactly how the councils are getting it wrong ... then visit the 'Top Tips' section on http://www.parkingappeals.co.uk/
The letter to Mr. Cowen is below:Tim Cowen
Director of Communications
NCP Services
24th October 2007
Dear Mr. Cowen,
It has come to my attention on a recent visit to London that a great many parking spaces across the capital are not correctly marked. In many instances the bays are unlawful 'hybrids' of TSRGD 2002 Diagrams 1028.4 and Diagram 1032, and other variations are being used and enforced.
The Department for Transport have confirmed that such hybrid bays would never receive Special Authorisation for use and therefore issuing Penalty Charge Notices in such marked bays would be unlawful.
Conversations with a number of Parking Attendants in Camden and Westminster and other local authorities in London confirm that they are unaware of the fact that the councils are initiating a programme of corrections and have not been advised not to issue in such locations. Can you confirm this to be the case?
The Parking Attendants also claim that they are not instructed or trained to recognise unlawfully marked bays (which include pay and display, meter, permit, loading and disabled bays). Again, I would be grateful if you could clarify this point.
Would you also be able to confirm that it is NCP Services and not NCP that now operate the on-street enforcement across the country and detail the contracts currently held and can you clarify whether the local authority contracts allowed the contract with NCP to be amended and passed over to a new company?
Do you now intend, in light of this information, to seek clarification from the local authorities concerned, as to whether NCP Services Parking Attendants should be issuing Penalty Charge Notices in areas where the local authority is fully aware that the signs do not comply with the law (the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002). Obviously they would not be correcting signs which did comply with the law and I am sure that your company would not wish to issue Penalty Charge Notices in areas where you are fully aware that the signs or lines do not comply with those prescribed in law.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Neil Herron
Director
Parking Appeals Ltd.
Dear Mr. Cowen,
It has come to my attention on a recent visit to London that a great many parking spaces across the capital are not correctly marked. In many instances the bays are unlawful 'hybrids' of TSRGD 2002 Diagrams 1028.4 and Diagram 1032, and other variations are being used and enforced.
The Department for Transport have confirmed that such hybrid bays would never receive Special Authorisation for use and therefore issuing Penalty Charge Notices in such marked bays would be unlawful.
Conversations with a number of Parking Attendants in Camden and Westminster and other local authorities in London confirm that they are unaware of the fact that the councils are initiating a programme of corrections and have not been advised not to issue in such locations. Can you confirm this to be the case?
The Parking Attendants also claim that they are not instructed or trained to recognise unlawfully marked bays (which include pay and display, meter, permit, loading and disabled bays). Again, I would be grateful if you could clarify this point.
Would you also be able to confirm that it is NCP Services and not NCP that now operate the on-street enforcement across the country and detail the contracts currently held and can you clarify whether the local authority contracts allowed the contract with NCP to be amended and passed over to a new company?
Do you now intend, in light of this information, to seek clarification from the local authorities concerned, as to whether NCP Services Parking Attendants should be issuing Penalty Charge Notices in areas where the local authority is fully aware that the signs do not comply with the law (the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002). Obviously they would not be correcting signs which did comply with the law and I am sure that your company would not wish to issue Penalty Charge Notices in areas where you are fully aware that the signs or lines do not comply with those prescribed in law.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Neil Herron
Director
Parking Appeals Ltd.
No comments:
Post a Comment