Motorists in line for £3million refund after councils admit handing out illegal parking tickets

Motorists in line for £3million refund after councils admit handing out illegal parking tickets
By Daily Mail Reporter 24th October 2008

Motorists are entitled to millions of pounds in refunds after several councils admitted handing out illegal parking tickets.

The climbdown follows an investigation of local authorities around the UK which revealed the extent of unlawful parking restrictions.

Now thousands of drivers who received fines as long ago as 2004 can get their money back after councils agreed to refund more than £3million in penalties.

Motorists are set to receive up to £3million in refunds after several councils admitted handing out illegal parking tickets
The decision comes after a landmark legal challenge over the use of parking tickets as a 'stealth tax'.

Last month, 'metric martyr' Neil Herron - who led the campaign to stop the prosecution of British shopkeepers who were using imperial measurements - lodged legal papers at the High Court challenging millions of parking tickets.

Mr Herron believes that many are invalid because of flaws in the regulations which cover controlled parking zones.

And because of errors in the marking of lines and the wording of signs, many motorists have been fined unjustly, he claimed.

Metric martyr: Neil Herron believes many parking tickets are invalid
Although the court battle is still ongoing, his investigation - using freedom of information requests - has prompted action from several councils.

The largest rebate came from Surrey County Council which has agreed to refund motorists up to £2.8million because its CPZ regulations were incorrectly drafted in 2004.

Any motorist who got a ticket within that zone from 2004 to September 2008 is entitled to a rebate.

Earlier this year Sheffield Council agreed to refund £350,000 to 13,500 motorists for poor signage at bus and tram gates in Hillsborough.
Lancashire City Council is also under pressure to pay back fines after it emerged that white lines may not have been painted properly.

In South Tyneside, motorists fined for parking in incorrectly marked loading bays are getting their money back. And Harrow Council has been forced to cancel 3,400 tickets due to an error in their format.

Police are also investigating Leeds City Council, which is alleged to have fined motorists even though it knew its parking restrictions were not legal. The council denies this.

Since 1999, when the Government gave councils responsibility for handing out parking tickets - instead of the police - the number of fines has risen almost tenfold