Show me the money ...

Traffic management ... absolute failure if there is this level of non-compliance.

Cash Cow value ... up there top of the league

Council makes fortune from street where drivers are fined £2,500 a day
London Evening Standard
Tom Harper
7 Feb 2011

It is an unremarkable residential street in south London flanked by housing estates and dotted with takeaways.

But today Clapham Park Road can be named as the biggest "cash cow" for parking tickets in the capital.

In a stretch of road measuring less than 500 yards, wardens raked in almost £1 million in parking and traffic fines last year - £300,000 more than its nearest London rival.

Coffers at Lambeth council were swelled by £2,500 a day through the activities of civil enforcement officers and two CCTV cameras patrolling bus lanes in Clapham Park Road.

The disclosure threatens to reignite the debate over town halls' use of parking fines as a stealth tax - in breach of Whitehall guidelines - to generate cash at a time of budget cuts.

AA president Edmund King said: "That is an incredible amount of money for one street. Something is wrong with the system - the intention of the council should be to keep traffic moving, not make money. At best it's very poor traffic management and at worst, frankly, it's profiteering."

Last year, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles warned boroughs they must cope with 25 per cent budget cuts without using civil parking enforcement as a way of raising revenue. But an investigation by the Evening Standard found 20 town halls in London generated a massive £146 million in tickets and fines last year.

Information obtained using the Freedom of Information Act shows that top of the list was Kensington and Chelsea, which earned £36 million through penalty charge notices for parking and traffic violations.

But revenue from those tickets - which cost drivers up to £120, the highest in Britain - was spread across many streets. The top earner was King's Road, at £203,123.
This figure is dwarfed by Clapham Park Road, which amassed £914,040 through 16,800 tickets last year.

Residents and businesses - the street has a handful of shops and two bars - said motorists were often caught out by cameras monitoring a bus lane, which has had its layout changed several times in recent years. Other drivers say they are targeted by over-eager parking inspectors who strike within seconds of them leaving their cars.

A Lambeth spokesman said: "This is an extremely busy area used by thousands of vehicles a day and a minority of motorists add to congestion by driving in the bus lane."

Next highest for revenue was Green Lanes, a four-mile road stretching from Hackney through Haringey into Enfield. Wardens in the Haringey section gathered £606,903 from 12,689 tickets.
The borough said it was a "long and major route" and needed to be kept free of vehicles. The Broadway, a busy shopping street in Ealing, came third, generating £534,041 with 8,385 tickets.
Last week, Barnet councillor Brian Coleman triggered uproar when it emerged he boasted town hall parking policy was to "never knowingly undercharge".

Campaigners advise motorists they should appeal against all tickets as many are issued wrongly. In London last year 68 per cent of drivers who took their case to the independent adjudicator won.
Last month, transport minister Norman Baker ordered a review of signs and markings amid concerns that they feature impenetrable lists of timings, exemptions and instructions.

Some tickets have been put down to overzealous wardens. In November, a driver got a £120 fine after a yellow line was painted under his car. Daniel Jacob, 26, of Basildon, said: "It's not even straight, it's a wobbly scrawl.

Moneyspinners
Clapham Park Road (Lambeth) £914,040
Green Lanes (Haringey) £606,903

The Broadway/Herbert Rd (Ealing) £534,041

Kentish Town Road (Camden) £395,491

Mare Street (Hackney) £356,012

Chiswick High Road (Hounslow) £351,416

Elephant Road (Southwark) £327,472
Lea Bridge Road (Waltham Forest) £250,270
King's Road (Kensington & Chelsea) £203,123
Penge High Street (Bromley) £194,005

Baker Street (Westminster) £189,515

Uxbridge High Street (Hillingdon) £172,075
London Road (Croydon) £171,295

Hackney Road (Tower Hamlets) £145,612

Macfarlane Road (H'smith & Fulham) £135,319

Garratt Lane (Wandsworth) £118,436

Wellington Street (Greenwich) £75,726

Yew Grove (Barnet) £47,910

Market Place Car Park (Havering) £34,185

Grove Road (Sutton) £22,686

Highest earning street for traffic and parking fines in each borough. Other boroughs failed to respond or gave only partial information that was not comparable.

Another success and more refunds but ...

the council is going to end up in a lot more trouble should someone who has paid a PCN take legal action or make a criminal complaint of misconduct or fraud.

The issue at the core of this is that the Traffic Order referred to the driver being responsible for the fine, not the Registered Keeper as civil parking enforcement requires. Therefore, the statement that there should not be refunds due to the fact that the person paying 'admitted liability' is offensive and wrong. If their legal document stated that the driver was responsible and they then sent a Notice to Owner claiming that the owner or registered keeper was liable, then that is a false representation. The TRO may have been 'in force' having been made but it misrepresented the position relating to the primary legislation.

Therefore, ALL monies must be refunded otherwise the council has been unjustly enriched and risks investigation by the District Auditor and, should anyone make a criminal complaint, by the Police.

The Fraud Act 2006 is explicit
2 Fraud by false representation
(1) A person is in breach of this section if he—
(a) dishonestly makes a false representation, and
(b) intends, by making the representation—
(i) to make a gain for himself or another, or
(ii) to cause loss to another or to expose another to a risk of loss.

Matters are far from concluded. The BBC report is shown below.

Parking Fine Error Costs £24,000
BBC
10th December 2009

A Hertfordshire council lost £24,000 in revenue from parking fines because enforcement orders were out of date.
St Albans Council's parking rules said a vehicle driver was liable for parking fines but it should have been the vehicle's keeper.
Colm O'Callaghan, the council's chief finance officer, said the blunder made it "impossible" to enforce the fines.

Terminology in the order had been wrong since 2005, when a new regime for off-street parking was introduced.
In a report to the council about the mistake, Mr O'Callaghan said: "Legal advice was that this did not invalidate the traffic order.
"But it did make it impossible for the council to pursue further enforcement action and brought financial cost."

Workload review
Initially the council had said it thought the cost of the error could be as high as £32,000.
In October a tribunal investigating a claim against a £50 ticket ruled that it was invalid as legal wording had not been updated.
The council has since decided to write off 1,621 penalty charge notices.

"The council is now paying the price both financially and in terms of its reputation for being accident prone"Julian Daly, Conservative group, St Albans Council

The tickets were issued at off-street car parks between 31 March 2008 and 5 November 2009.

People who have already paid the fines are considered to have admitted liability, although since the error was revealed some have submitted requests for refunds.

Mr O'Callaghan's report identified a protracted line of responsibility from the parking contract manager to the city and district engineer, who it said had a heavy workload.
In its response to the mistake, the council is to consider the creation of a clear procedure and check-list for work to be signed off and the implementation of a workload review.

Leaders blamed
The management responsible have been invited to put forward a plan to implement these recommendations.
Julian Daly, leader of the Conservative opposition group on the council, said management and the political leadership of the Liberal Democrat ruling party were responsible for the mistake.

He said: "Traffic orders were not subject to review by the council's legal team and there was some absence of prioritisation in the relevant team which contributed to the error."

He backed the call for a workload review but said the relevant portfolio holders should ensure the engineering and technical services section were adequately resourced or that its workload was reduced accordingly.

"The council is now paying the price both financially and in terms of its reputation for being accident prone," Mr Daly said.

Council writes off parking fines (05 Nov 09 Beds/Bucks/Herts )

Parking tickets could be invalid (28 Oct 09 Beds/Bucks/Herts )

Council motoring fines 'illegal' (29 May 08 UK )

'Fairer' parking deal for drivers (31 Mar 08 Wales )

Camden Parking Refunds ......

BBC News reports 'Many Parking Fines 'unlawful' '

Builder Richard Chaumeton states:
"Camden Council are behaving like the Sherriff of Nottingham"

Looks like the motorsists now have their own Robin Hood.

The question is now 'Will Camden Council do the decent thing and refund everyone who has been fined unlawfully?'

Driver wins £20,000 for stress over parking tickets

and sends bailiffs to collect his money!

Daily Mail
By Colin Fernandez

A motorist sued a council for £20,000 over the stress of receiving four parking tickets.
Zun Noon, who refused to pay the four £50 fines, claimed he suffered emotional distress after bailiffs were sent round to reclaim the money.
After a court found in his favour, Mr Noon gave the council a taste of its own medicine and sent his own bailiffs to its offices to collect his damages.

Mr Noon's battle against Newham Council in East London started in October 2007 when he was apparently captured by a council CCTV camera committing the parking offences.
Two more fines arrived the following month, as well as a fourth penalty which was a duplicate of a previous one and was later dropped.
Mr Noon, from Tower Hamlets, was so incensed he launched a counterclaim for emotional distress at Bow County court.
After Newham Council failed to attend the hearing the judge awarded him £20,000 - £5,000 for each ticket.
Bailiffs went to Newham's 'Parking Shop' in East Ham last November to present a 'notice of seizure' and began taking computers and putting them in a van. The council took 30 minutes before paying up.
Si-Ling Pang, a spokeswoman for Newham Council said: 'They were unplugging computers and taking them away. If they'd unplugged the server it would have cost us thousands of pounds worth of damage so we had to pay to stop it.'
The cost to taxpayers has since risen to £27,566.83 including a service charge and costs resulting from the time taken to settle the case.
The council, which says it never received a summons, has since taken the case back to Bow County Court, which ruled in its favour and ordered Mr Noon to repay the money.

Drivers to have parking fines reimbursed

Yorkshire Post
By Alexandra Wood
HUNDREDS of motorists in Hull will get back money paid out in fines after Humberside Police admitted to wrongly issuing parking tickets over a two-year period.

The force should have stopped collecting the fines in July 2006 when Hull Council took over parking enforcement.Yesterday officers apologised and said 711 people who had been fined would have the money reimbursed.


Assistant Chief Constable Alan Leaver apologised on behalf of the force, admitting it was not the "greatest moment" in the force's history.Hull Council highways manager Graham Hall said they had been one of many local authorities to take over parking enforcement under the Decriminalised Parking Enforcement scheme.



In a statement Humberside Police said: "As a result of a procedural error approximately 711 parking tickets were issued inappropriately in Hull between July 2006 and June 2008 by police officers, community support officers and special constables.


"Due to changes in the law in 2006 only civil enforcement officers working for Hull City Council are subsequently able to issue such tickets.


"The tickets issued by Humberside Police were for parking offences actually committed but the fines collected will now be reimbursed."


Police said the error only related to Hull and that their officers were able to issue tickets throughout the rest of the force area.

It's not fine say councillors ... more refunds?

Council asks for parking ticket refunds
18th June 2008
By Ellie Hargreaves

COUNCILLORS in Kirkby Lonsdale have questioned the legality of parking tickets dished out in the town.
The query - along with pleas for unlawful fines to be refunded - was raised following news that Sheffield City Council had agreed to give several motorists their money back.

Councillor Roger Taylor told a meeting of Kirkby Lonsdale Town Council tonight (Wednesday) that a number of yellow lines in the town were broken or unfinished and that parking attendants were breaking rules by handing out tickets.

Chairman Alan Day told the meeting: “One of the traffic wardens told me he couldn’t do his job because some of the lines are not right.”

“Are they not robbing people?” asked Coun Taylor. “They should be refunding that money

Is Robin Hood alive and well in Nottingham...

... getting money back for the poor, beleaguered motorist?

This time it was in the form of Neil Herron and Parking Appeals assisting Nottingham solicitor Clive Burton with a few of his PCNs.

They hit the streets of Nottingham, just hours after the piece highlighting Parking Appeal's Alan Bangert's success in Sheffield, to highlight how illegal the restrictions were in Robin Hood's old stamping ground.

However, Nottingham's problem is far greater than their admission that 'refunds will only be made on the yellow lines identified as being non-compliant.'

Just so happens that all the signs in the pay and display bays also fall.

More to be revealed but in the meantime, watch the BBC piece here and read the Restitution Section on the Parking Appeals.co.uk front page.

And it's not just parking where serious errors occur...

Refund after speed fine error
About 130 motorists have been offered speed fine refunds because of an administrative error.
15 Jan 2008

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.

Waltham Forest Council forced to refund Penalty Charge Notices

This time because of an unlawful yellow box junction.

What is extraordinary in this instance is that the council asked the Department for Transport if the yellow box was lawful ...and they were told it wasn't ... AFTER they had issued £thousands of tickets. Full story here

The case has enormous implications.

Environment cabinet member Cllr Bob Belam said: "The council is carrying out a thorough investigation to find out why this happened and will be taking steps to ensure that a similar occurence does not happen again.
"As soon as we discovered this error the council instructed our parking contractor to stop issuing tickets incurred by motorists at this junction and have cancelled all outstanding tickets.
"If anyone feels they have been given a fixed penalty at this box junction in error they should contact our parking section and a full refund will be made."
Notices will be placed in the council's WFM newsletter informing motorists they can get their fines refunded.
Cllr Belam said that a decision has yet to be made on whether the junction will be removed or merely altered."

Sorry Cllr Bellam. This is not good enough. It is not up to the motorists to contact you. You have the Registered Keeper details and the details of those who paid. If the two tally ... refund. If they don't (ie. if the driver not the Registered Keeper paid) then write to the Registered Keeper pointing out that a refund is due and can they inform the driver to ensure that an appropriate refund is made.
If there are any monies that cannot be refunded then it must be given to charity.

To get your refund call the council's parking department on 020 8496 3000.

The admission is that a council has been using a sign or road marking which has been confirmed by the Department for Transport as unlawful ... and the council has admitted that it has to refund the money.

Now consider the case of the unlawful (as confirmed by the Department for Transport) 1028.4 / 1032 hybrid parking/loading/disabled bays. Same principle.

Have you had a ticket in such a bay? Check out the Parking Appeals website and sign up to ensure that you have the latest info when councils are caught out.