The pressure mounts ...

Should you wish to support please visit www.motoristslegalchallenge.co.uk

Neil Herron selling car and number plate to fund court battle
Apr 11 2010 by Amy Hunt,
Sunday Sun

A PARKING ticket campaigner is flogging his car and personalised numberplate to raise cash for his High Court fight.
Activist Neil Herron is challenging tickets issued by Sunderland City Council, claiming they were unlawful.

In a case which he says could prove pivotal for drivers, he will argue that hundreds of thousands of parking tickets issued around the UK are unlawful because of flawed regulations.

Having already re-mortgaged his house Mr Herron – who set up his own firm Parking Appeals Ltd – is now putting his own Nissan Navara, which he has had for about three years, up for sale, along with a personalised “F1NED” numberplate.

He hopes to raise £20,000 by flogging the car, which has yellow lines painted down the side in an effort to highlight parking problems. He’ll add the car cash to the £80,000 he says his legal fight has already cost him.

Market trader Mr Herron is due at London’s High Court on May 18 to attempt to get a judicial review into Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs).

He will claim that many tickets are invalid, arguing how the law states every road within a CPZ must be marked with a single or double yellow lines, except where parking spaces are provided.
Any CPZ zone which contains other markings like zig-zags, bus lanes, pelican or zebra crossings would be unlawful, making parking tickets issued in it invalid, he says.

Mr Herron said: “We’re trying to expose that local authorities have a duty to residents, rate-payers and motorists to act fairly and to comply with the law and not to use cost as a weapon to deny people justice or use fines as a way to raise revenue. Many people have paid a parking ticket that they feel is unjust because of the potential cost of appealing it.
“Effectively I have spent £100,000 on a parking ticket. But I’ve had to put my money where my mouth is and if you’re going to stand on a point of principle there’s a degree of sacrifice you have to make.
“I’m hoping there’s a millionaire out there who’s fond of social justice and realises there’s a principle to be fought for. I’m sure there will be someone out there who would pay a lot to see this case succeed.”

Sunderland City Council will contest the case on behalf of all local authorities.
In 2001 Mr Herron was part of the campaign to clear the name of greengrocer and “metric martyr” Steven Thoburn.
Mr Thoburn, who died in 2004, was prosecuted for selling his produce traditionally by the pound at his shop in the area Southwick in Sunderland.

Camden still trying to fleece motorists ...

Despite Camden's reassurances that they had withdrawn the unlawful credit card surcharge my vehicle F1 NED received a Notice to Owner ... with the Credit Card Surcharge marked in bold text.
They claim that "on this occasion the wrong stationery was used."
I am sure that I don't have presonal Camden parking stationery despite them cancelling EVERY one of my tickets and I would have assumed that in light of all the press and media coverage that SOMEONE SOMEWHERE would have informed parking staff to check the paperwork before it goes out.

The question now has to be asked 'Is this an isolated incident with one Notice to Owner floating around the system or is it really a systemic failing to acknowledge anything unlawful whatsoever?'

If it is the latter then there needs to be someone's head on the block.

If it was the former then I must put this week's lottery on.

Meanwhile, can Captain Smith come to the bridge ... something about icebergs!

BBC reports Camden's parking tickets unlawful

Is this the most expensive parking ticket blunder in history?
The ruling also applies to the London Boroughs of Merton, Kingston and Harrow.



How could 4 councils get it so wrong?
Questions have to be asked of the Parking Service Managers and Legal Departments who allowed this to happen especially when the Operational Guidance for Local Authorities is so explicit ...

Had a ticket here in Leeds?

This was where the car was parked whilst attending the adjudication of Mr. David Flasher.

The decision which is in the Key Decisions section on the website shows that Leeds City Council's Notices of Rejection are invalid.

If you have been pursued by bailiffs or have had an appeal rejected you can now revisit your case.

Meanwhile, the PCN issued at this location has been cancelled ... along with the admission that the restriction is not signed in accordance with regulations. Therefore, until it is there is no Traffic Regulation Order in force ... and therefore any monies which the council has had must be refunded.

Dear Mr Herron

Traffic Management Act 2004

Penalty Charge Notice (PCN): LS32102873

Date of Issue: 11/06/2008

Location of Contravention: BRITANNIA STREET - CENTRAL

Nature of Contravention: 06 WITHOUT PAYING CHG OR DISP VOUCHER

Thank you for your e-mail dated the 17 June 2008 and letter which we received the 20 June 2008 in regard to the above PCN.

The Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) issued the PCN because your vehicle was parked in a pay and display bay without displaying a fee ticket.

I have noted your comments and have checked the CEO’s pocket book notes which state the sign advising the restriction was on lamppost number 3 approximately 4 yards to the rear of your vehicle on the opposite side of the road therefore does not comply with regulations

I can confirm the PCN has been cancelled.

Thank you for bringing this information to our attention.

Yours sincerely

Anne Goldthorpe Appeals Officer

Bays in Fleet Hampshire are ruled unenforceable

Another victory, this time for Parking Appeals member Peter Ashford's campaign. However, the council states that it has no intention of refunding the money.

Unfortunately, they cannot legally keep the money which has been 'unlawfully derived.'

Check out the restitution section on the ParkingAppeals.co.uk site and see how you can begin claiming a refund.

Council finally changes illegal parking bays
By Joanna Till
18/ 6/2008

Hampshire County Council is set to re-mark Fleet Road’s parking bays after a national adjudicator ruled they were unenforceable.

Hart District Council stopped enforcing the parking regulations after the National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) ruled in March that the bays were not lawful and should not be adhered to.

The county council will now send contractors in the next few weeks to burn off the existing lines and paint new ones.

Fleet town centre manager Paul Doughty hopes the dis-trict council will then allow a small grace period for drivers to readjust to the enforcement of the regulations before it starts issuing penalty charge notices (PCNs) again.

“There won’t be a massive difference in the size of the bays, but once they are re-marked they will be enforceable,” said Mr Doughty.
“To be honest, I’m not sure most people will notice the difference.”

The March ruling came after former Hook resident Stephen Robson was issued a PCN in Fleet Road, even though the district council allegedly already knew the bays were illegally marked and not enforceable.
Mr Robson parked outside the Captured Moment shop in January last year, unaware parking was restricted because there were no signs and no yellow lines.
Mr Robson complained to the council, which said only goods vehicles were allowed to use the bays, and only at certain times of the day.
He appealed to the NPAS in October, when the adjudicator held that although Mr Robson’s arguments were correct the PCN should be upheld.

The NPAS accepted that Mr Robson’s case merited a review, which was heard in Winchester on March 6.

The adjudicator said: “I further conclude that the difference between what is required and what has actually been painted on the carriageway is so great that the bays in Fleet Road cannot be enforced.”

Cllr Stephen Parker, portfolio holder for the environment, said: “When the judgement came through we accepted it straight away and stopped fining people parked there.”

Campaigner Peter Ashford said he told the district council the restrictions were unlawful soon after they were introduced.
The district council informed the county council, which checked the bays, said there were no problems and insisted the restrictions should be enforced.

Cllr Parker said: “Until you have a judgment on these things they are only allegations.
“We cannot stop enforcing every time there is an allegation made, particularly when you have already been told by the county council that the bays are lawful.”

Mr Doughty said several challenges had been made since the restrictions were brought in, and it was possible there would be more once the bays were re-marked.

Restrictions concerning the bays marked for disabled people have not been enforced since the adjudicator’s decision.

Mr Doughty said: “I’ve had a lot of angry phonecalls over the past month or so from people who are entitled to park in those bays and who have not been able to do so because an able-bodied person is there instead.
“They’ve had to park a lot further away which has been very difficult for them.”

A series of BBC reports claimed councils including Hart had raised thousands of pounds from unlawful fines.

The Department for Transport told the BBC it expected the councils involved to “seriously consider” paying back the fines.Hart raised an estimated £400,000 by issuing the unlawful charges.

Cllr Parker said: “We have no plans to pay back the fines.”

The Tory-dominated district council decided on June 5 to reinstate free parking in Fleet town centre.
Exact details have not yet been decided, but early plans cite the possibility of 24 free bays in the Victoria Road, Church Road and Gurkha Square car parks.
Cllr Parker said: “Plans will be finalised soon but we’re quite certainly not looking to hang about.”
Parking in the bays would be restricted to 30 minutes, with no return within an hour, which Mr Doughty said would allow shoppers to go into Fleet to buy smaller items without paying for a full hour in the car parks.

“There’s a lot of people who want to just nip in quickly to buy a loaf of bread or something,” he said.
“They’re not even going to spend £1 in the shop they’re going to, yet they have to pay about the same again to park their car.
“It’s having such a negative effect on the town centre. All it does is drive people away from the centre and towards huge supermarkets with free parking.
“It’s bad news for town centre retailers.
“Parking in general has become really very expensive, especially with the rising costs of fuel and duty charges.
“This will encourage people back to the centre, and it will certainly have a very positive effect.”

Fines double against Lancashire Motorists ...

... but a massive blunder by Parkwise (between April and September 2007, 57,868 tickets were issued by Parkwise across the Lancashire County Council area) which could result in £millions of refunds.

Following closely on the heels of refunds in Sheffield and Nottingham and the exposure of Leeds unlawful enforcement practices relating to signing and paperwork non-compliance it now looks like the turn of the Lancashire authorities to have the tables turned.

The timing of Matthew Squires article in the Lancashire Evening Post could not have been better. By 5pm on Monday it is anticipated that local authorities across Lancashire will be checking their parking enforcement notices and taking advice from lawyers. We will reveal more on Monday but suffice to say that any motorist who has parted with any money for a parking ticket in Lancashire in the past six years should mark http://www.parkingappeals.co.uk/ as a 'favourite' ready for the revelations.


Fines double against Lancashire motorists
Published Date: 13 June 2008
By Matthew Squires

More than double the number of parking tickets have been slapped on Lancashire drivers since private traffic wardens were introduced, it has been revealed.

Campaigners today held the findings up as yet more evidence that council-run parking enforcement is about nothing more than making a "fast buck return".

Before local authorities took over full responsibility for parking, police took 48,706 "actions" across the county in 2002, including giving out parking tickets and written warnings and taking court proceedings.

Three years later, by which time councils had taken full responsibility, 108,771 parking tickets were dished out. The figure includes fines handed out by authorities in Blackpool and Blackburn. That would have raked in £6.5m, based on each ticket carrying a £60 fine – and the number of drivers hit with fines has continued to soar.

In the six months between April and September 2007, 57,868 tickets were issued by Parkwise across the Lancashire County Council area.

More ...

Council Parking 'confessions' spread across Yorkshire.

... now Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council.

After Sheffield Council agreed to refund motorists £350,000 Rotherham are in the press today with another headline ... "U-turn over parking bays."

However, an e-mail sent to the Head of the Council's legal department still remains unanswered after our visit there in April. It has been re-sent today.

At the time we reported the fact that the on-street pay and display bays were incorrectly signed ... but couldn't get a ticket. To read the story click here

Credit where credit is due ... the CEOs in Rotherham that we met were very polite and courteous.

How soon before another Yorkshire council does the decent thing?

We will be reporting on the latest development in Leeds shortly.

One Nation under CCTV ... Banksy

Last time it was incorrectly terminated double yellow lines ... this time CCTV.

Whose watching the watchers?

Your every movement tracked.

CCTV fines through the post weeks after an alleged contravention. How can you prove the CCTV was wrong and you were somewhere else?

Click on TicketM8 ... and we'll show you how you can have your own evidence of speed and location for your vehicle ... speed to 6 decimal places, location accurate to less than half a metre.

With fines at £120 a go for parking and moving traffic violations and three points and increased insurance costs as well as a £60 fine for speeding can you afford not to have TicketM8 fitted to your vehicle?

Free Parking in Rotherham ... but if you've had a ticket drop us a line

Rotherham … Friday 11th April 2008

After failing to get a Penalty Charge Notice in Sheffield we went up the road to Rotherham. First stop was the Town Hall to pick up copies of the Traffic Regulation Orders.

No sooner had F1 NED been parked in the echelon bays than a Civil Enforcement Officer appeared. However, he soon had a dilemma. After reading the ads on the side of the car and checking around for a camera crew he started logging the vehicle. I went over and introduced myself … and then pointed out the unlawful upright plates adjacent to the bay. I then took him to the pay and display meter and showed him why he couldn’t issue a PCN.

He was very pleasant and professional, (and if it wasn't for the fact that the council and the Traffic Penalty Tribunal benefited financially from his activities he would be an excellent ambassador for the town) and mentioned that he had seen me on TV a couple of weeks ago. I asked him to contact his boss to ensure that if he did issue then it had been a conscious decision by management and not just down to him. He had also written in his pocket book the reasons why it would be unlawful of him to issue in light of what he had been told.

No TROs in the Town Hall. We were told to go to the Civic Building. The CEO was still with the car.
“Have I got a ticket?” I asked.
“Sorry Sir, I’ve been told not to issue to you. It’ll cause too much paperwork.”
I bid him a good afternoon and traveled the half a mile or so to the Civic Building and parked in the pay and display car park ... free of charge.

The very helpful girls in Customer Service at the front desk then began the process of attempting to track down the TROs which were proving more elusive than the Holy Grail. I was directed to another building past the bus station and down the underpass. I walked and was told in reception that they were not there … they were in the Civic Building. Malcolm Beard, Head of Parking Services seemed very reluctant to engage in any dialogue.
So, back to Civic Building.

The three girls in Customer Service were slightly embarrassed. I pointed out that I hadn’t wanted to register in the Rotherham Keep Fit Initiative … getting the runaround, I simply wanted a copy of the TROs that they were relying on to enforce the restrictions … and remove hard-earned money from motorists pockets.

Finally, I was told Rotherham’s Solicitor, Richard Waller was on his way. I was then taken into his office. However, matters rapidly descended into farce. He was only able to produce the Off-Street Parking Places Order. Nothing was available for On-Street. I pointed out that these documents should be available for inspection by the public on demand. I was told that he would send a copy out.
I then asked for a copy of the only order he had been able to produce, offering to pay photocopying costs.
He said, “ No, you are not getting a copy.”

I was quite taken aback by this. “Excuse me? You are refusing to supply a copy of the Traffic Order to a member of the public? On what grounds?”

“ Yes. I am not going to give you are copy.”

At this point I asked that this be registered as a formal complaint and asked for the name of the Chief Executive.
I then asked him to write down the fact that the on-street pay and display bays were incorrectly marked with the upright plates failing to state the times of operation of the bays, and the meters had had the Penalty Charge amount blanked out, and he should inform Parking Services and the Chief Executive immediately that enforcement MUST be suspended in these locations immediately. As he was now aware that any attempt to enforce or issue PCNs would be done in the full knowledge that the restrictions were not lawful then that could leave council officers and the CEOs open to a complaint of misfeasance in public office.

I left and attempted to get a ticket. Driving along I passed a CEO. He got on his radio immediately. I pulled over and asked him if I went and parked up would he give me a ticket.
The answer was “No, we have been told not to issue to you,” but he went on to tell me that he would still issue to other vehicles.

So there you have it. If you know the law and the fact that Rotherham Council’s on-street pay and display restrictions are not lawful then you don’t get a ticket. If you don’t know the law then they will ticket you and take your money.

The Civil Enforcement Officers now have a moral and legal dilemma. Do they continue to issue where they know it is unlawful to do so ... whilst ignorance may have previously been a defence it most certainly isn't now. Check here for an insight into the possible consequences. Perhaps the unions should be informed.

Meanwhile, anyone with a Rotherham ticket e-mail enquiries@parkingappeals.co.uk and we will provide you with the defence.

British Parking Awards ... and the Alternative (Dick Turpin) Parking Awards

At 11.30am tomorrow, 7th March 2008, the British Parking 'INDUSTRY' is holding an annual awards dinner. We can now see what has become the most lucrative of all local authorities' operations, decriminalised parking, engaging in back-slapping and feasting at the trough.

Local authority employed civil servants sharing the spoils with private enforcement contractors and bailiffs at a banquet with flowing champagne and dancing girls ... and you, the motorist and council tax payer, are paying for this lavish extravagance.

Are you comfortable with your council engaging in such activities?

Are you comfortable that parking enforcement is fair, transparent and just ... or are you of the opinion that it is a licensed money making 'industry' for all concerned?

Keep these images in mind next time you are issued with a

Penalty Charge Notice and cannot understand why the council haven't exercised common sense or discretion, or why your paperwork isn't correct or your representations mysteriously 'go missing.'

Click here to see exactly who is up for an award and why.

...and we will shortly be publishing the Parking Appeals Alternative (Dick Turpin) Parking Awards ...

Will your council be a recipient?

On 31st March 2008 the new Traffic Management Act comes into force with new powers for Parking Attendants (Civil Enforcement Officers) who can serve Penalty Charge Notices by post and CCTV enforcement can be rolled out across the country.

If you thought things were bad, next month they are set to get a lot, lot worse.

Red Lion Street, Camden ... had a parking ticket here?

Have you been ticketed in Red Lion Street in Camden, London?

The council is now aware that many of the borough's parking spaces do not comply with the law.

How do we know?

Because we are having ticket after ticket cancelled for motorists in such non-compliant bays AND our vehicle F1 NED CANNOT get a Penalty Charge Notice no matter how hard we try. On the odd occasion we have managed it is rather quickly cancelled.

And, the little give-away is shown in the picture on the left.

We parked at this location in Red Lion Street in an attempt to get a parking ticket, but as you can see it appears as though a Highways Inspector has spotted the error ... hence the 'x' highlighting the errors.

If you join the Parking Appeals website you will be able to spot exactly how and why the bay is unlawful and how you can successfully appeal.

There are hundreds of thousands of similar illegally marked bays across the country ... and the councils are aware of their legal requirements and are continuing to enforce bays that they know to be non-compliant.

It is not acceptable to break the law to enforce the law ... so join the growing band of motorists standing up to this abuse.

Parking Appeals now offers an annual membership for only £9.99 ... can you afford not to join?

Not long before you get F1 NED on the tube ... just you wait

The following story is reported on the BBC website. Our controlling masters and those in 'job justification' positions have now come up with this idea.

As the motorists in London are being F1NED off the roads and driven onto public transport TfL are looking at another revenue stream

This time it is ...

Yellow boxes calm Tube platforms

The boxes are designed to prevent passengers blocking doors. Road-style markings have been introduced at London Underground stations to stop passengers crowding around train doors.
The yellow box junctions have been painted on platforms at 10 stations on the Jubilee Line.
Transport for London is running the trial to find out if platform markings can cut passenger congestion.
More here

Once you create the villain (those who stand in the boxes) you have now created the justification to fine them. In time the yellow boxes will be CCTV monitored and 'Civil Enforcement Officers' will be radio linked to the operators and will fine the offenders.

You are now living in Orwellian Britain.

Oh how we laughed at Rowan Atkinson and Griff Rhys Jones in the Not the Nine o'Clock News sketch where the guy had been arrested buy an overzealous cop for 'walking on the cracks in the pavement' and 'wearing a loud shirt in a built up area.'

Let's hope the 'job justification' officials don't watch UK Gold.

Come on Westminster ... take me on

After having another PCN cancelled by Westminster City Council, and Bolton and Camden ... we parked F1 NED in Little College Street, over the road from the House of Lords to attend a meeting of the London Motorists Action Group chaired by Lord Lucas. Also in attendance were Tom Conti, Anthony Culligan (whose pending Judicial Review on Camden's PCNs could lead to massive refunds for motorists), and Edmund King (now of the AA) as well as a representative of Which?

The vehicle was parked on an area of the highway between parking spaces which had the final faded remnants of a single yellow line. It was not clear, it was broken and it wasn't terminated. It was not accompanied by an upright plate (TSRGD 2002 Diag. 639) and although this is not necessary in a CPZ we did not appear to pass any CPZ entry signs.

After weeks and weeks of not being able to collect a ticket in Westminster this time we were lucky.

The PCN was issued at 18.01 on 28th January 2008 and the appeal was made online at 4.30am on 29th January.

I will wait with bated breath ... we want to get a badly marked, un-terminated single yellow line case to Judicial Review to destroy the mantra " if it 'looks' like a yellow line you should not park there" by etsablishing the point that there is a legal requirement to mark a yellow line correctly (clearly and with a T-bar) and to properly maintain the restriction instead of simply tax-farming and revenue harvesting to fill black holes in the council's coffers.