Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Parkwise ... Lose a £million ... win a prize!
By Lancashire Evening Telegraph newsdesk
A LOSS-making parking scheme set to be scrapped has been given a top award.
Parkwise, the arrangement between Lancashire County Council and the county's district councils, has been honoured at the British Parking Awards.
Its customer inquiries staff, based in Preston, scooped the back office team of the year 2008' prize. In January, the Lancashire Telegraph revealed Parkwise was to be scrapped when its contract expires in 2009 because it is expected to end up almost £1million in the red.
And motorists have previously complained about over-zealous wardens.
Parking ticket expert Neil Herron said: "Is this the back office team that has lost £1million? The whole thing has been a shambles, from start to finish. Everything has lurched from crisis to crisis."
Judges said they had been impressed by the 19-strong team's commitment to customer service, handling of appeals and efficient processing of payments.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Beware of trying to park on Private Land ...
Clamping on Private land has been outlawed in Scotland ... the courts see it as theft and extortion but it still continues in England BUT the writing is on the wall.
Issuing 'parking tickets' on private land is also about to meet the Grim Reaper as the public wise up to the fact that it is nothing more than a scam that has no legal basis and any fines levied are unenforceable and simply rely on the motorist being bullied or intimidated into paying up.
So, what is left for the owners of private car parks to discourage cars from parking ...
If you fall victim to the above you need a recovery truck.
If you get a ticket however, we can help, simply click on the link below.
New Parking Laws ... ticket for parking 50cm away from kerb
Did you know that you can be fined for being parked more than 50cm away from the kerb?
You have two alternatives ...
The Chinese Solution
Buy a vehicle to create that element of doubt in the minds of the new Civil Enforcement Officers. It may be ingenious when you park helping you to avoid that ticket but it plays havoc with pedestrians.
Or ...
The Parking Appeals.co.uk solution which is a lot simpler and simply involves a letter and some inside information that the authorities would rather you didn't know.
To find out more click on the link below ...
Petition to Scrap Hospital Parking Charges in English Hospitals
PRESS RELEASE: IMMEDIATE2nd April 2008
Parking Campaign calls for fairness across the country by urging the Prime Minister to scrap hospital parking charges in hospitals across England in line with the move by the Welsh Assembly..
Neil Herron of Parking Appeals.co.uk who are sponsoring the petition states:
"Charging people to park at hospitals is an indirect tax on healthcare. These days, the vast majority of people who attend hospital clinics do so by car, often several times during treatment and the costs mount up. It's iniquitous that they have to pay to access hospital care. Relatives and frontline health care workers are similarly penalised.
Yet again it is the English who get raw deal and we demand that the Prime Minister follows the line of the Welsh Assembly and scraps hospital parking charges at English hospitals."
ENDS:
Contact
Neil Herron
National Spokesman
Tel. 0191 565 7143
Mob. 07776202045
http://www.parkingappeals.co.uk/
- To Scrap Hospital Parking Charges In England
Car parking at most Welsh hospitals will be free from 1st April 2008.
The Welsh Assembly Government's Health Minister Edwina Hart has confirmed the move, the first of its kind in the UK, which will see charges scrapped or reduced.
NHS trusts which do not have contracts with private companies are to stop charging patients, visitors and staff from April 1 - the same date free prescriptions started in Wales last year.
Those with private car parking contracts are to be told to reduce costs until the contracts expire.
Parking Appeals.co.uk which assists people hit with parking fines states:
"Charging people to park at hospitals is an indirect tax on healthcare. "These days, the vast majority of people who attend hospital clinics do so by car, often several times during treatment and the costs mount up. It's iniquitous that they have to pay to access hospital care. Relatives and frontline health care workers are similarly penalised."
This petition is to the Prime Minister. We the undersigned wish the Government to follow the lead of the Welsh Assembly and scrap hospital parking charges in England for the benefit of patients, relatives and health workers.
TO SIGN THE PETITION CLICK HERE
Sponsored by:
... more than just a website. Please forward and make it happen.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Lambeth Parking Stories ... Press Release
PlayParking Wars: Watch now
in which Jonathan Maitland investigated new laws that could lead to innocent drivers being falsely accused of crimes and also uncovered how others had been fined unlawfully.
How many others have been done at this location?
Are you one of them?
If you register with Parking Appeals then you can watch developments and we will show you how, when councils make such mistakes, that you can begin the process of claiming refunds.
Join the site and become what as rapidly expanding into the 'Motorists' Civil War.'
Monday, March 31, 2008
"Another Fine Mess" ... Parking Chaos starts today
In a calamity worthy of the slapstick comedy heroes the new Traffic Management Act comes into force today ... ill-thought out, ill-conceived, unregulated and guaranteed to create "another fine mess." The difference is however, that this one isn't funny.
There will be nothing amusing when you get a parking ticket issued through the post alleging a contravention some weeks earlier. I struggle to recollect events from the day before, but trying to retrace my footsteps (or my vehicle's tyre steps) from weeks earlier will be an impossible task.
Add to that the fact that as the Registered Keeper of a vehicle yo will be responsible for paying the Penalty Charge Notice ... and therefore responsible for tracing other persons steps ( ie. any other legal user of the vehicle).
Penalties will range from £40 to as high as £120 – rising to £180 for late payers – simply according to where in the country you park.Two tier penalties will be introduced with higher penalties for more serious contraventions ... but no need for the call to the rocket scientist for a quote ... you guessed it, most of the contraventions (the most common) fall into the higher bracket thereby increaing the revenue for councls.
CCTV will be rolled out across the country to harvest revenue in the most profitable areas. Amusingly Wigan Council claimed that they would only be siting CCTV cameras where it was too dangerous for Parking Attendants (now renamed Civil Enforcement Officers under the new legislation) ... I personally do not want to live in a country where it is too dangerous for ANYONE to go and the priority under the Crime and Disorder Act is for the Police and Councils to reduce crime (and the fear of crime) in such areas ... not put up CCTV to harvest fine revenue.
This legislation is going to result in chaos and abuse of the belegured motorist who is going to become even more of a stealth tax victim.
Read what the Daily Express thinks here
Parking Tickets to arrive in the post
New legislation comes into force today and the parking rules hit the papers today...Sunday, March 30, 2008
Parking Wars on ITV's 'Tonight' programme
Friday night saw Parking Appeals' Neil Herron on the 'Tonight' Parking Wars Special.Minister Rosie Winterton attempted to justify the new Traffic Management Act with claims that it would be 'fairer.'
The evidence is heavily stacked against ...
She does make a claim that the councils have had since 2005 to get their act together ... so there can be no excuses. For once I have a degree of sympathy with the councils ... the Guidance to the legislation only came out last week, hence the panic.
We will be revealing more soon but it looks like paperwork is not all ready ... and to those council officers feeding us the information about how chaotic things are and how paperwork is not ready, Traffic Orders are not all prepared and TMA compliant, keep the information coming. One day when the bubble completely bursts and this whole scam is exposed for exactly what it is ... licensed highway robbery, there will be many a court filled with evidence of fraud and malpractice.
To those councils who think that they can continue to issue Penalty Charge Notices to motorists in the full knowledge that lines, signs and Traffic Orders are not correct or paperwork is not compliant just click here ... its a copy of the 2006 Fraud Act. No excuses ... you have been warned.
If you missed it or want to watch again ... VIEW THE ITV CLIP HERE
Play
Parking Wars: Watch now
Jonathan Maitland investigates new laws that could lead to innocent drivers being falsely accused of crimes
Rosie Winterton thinks its 'FINE'
Under Decriminalised Parking Enforcement there is no recourse to a Court ... the council raises the 'fine,' issues the 'fine' and collects and keeps the fine revenue.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
10 Most Unreasonable Parking Tickets ... and it's gonna get worse than this
We reveal the ten most unreasonable parking fines of all time
Daily Mail
27th March 2008
Most drivers vent a little steam when they get a parking ticket - and the number who appeal successfully proves they're often right to be annoyed.
But a new list of the most ridiculous parking tickets ever issued shows that almost nothing will stop the determined parking warden from slapping a ticket on a vehicle.
Indeed, it suggests a host of ways that officious officials can take advantage of drivers when they are at their most vulnerable.
Driven to distraction:Even mitigating circumstances such as falling prey to a heart attack or bank robbers cut no ice with some wardens
The pit-stop ambush
Lorry driver Michael Collins was on his way to collect a skip in London's Belsize Park when the road beneath him collapsed. A burst water main had created a deep hole where the front wheels of his 17-tonne lorry were now stuck.
While he was waiting for roadside assistance, a parking attendant appeared. To the astonishment of nearby residents - and despite Mr Collins' protests, she stood on tiptoe and plastered a parking ticket on his windscreen - while helpfully telling him: "You can appeal".
The trunk road swoop
If a tree fell on your car and you escaped death by inches, you might expect some sympathy from your local council. But there was no sign of compassion from Wychavon District Council for Nicky Clegg of Stoulton, Worcs, after when a tree crashed down on her car as she drove her 82-year-old mother and 11-year-old son.
Police dragged the wrecked car - with crushed bonnet, smashed windscreen and broken wing mirrors - to the roadside and told Mrs Clegg she could leave it there and pick it up the following day. When she came back, a parking ticket was stuck on the window.
The knock-down surprise
Think that being badly injured is an excuse to park illegally? Think again. When Nadhim Zahawi of South London was thrown from his scooter and left lying in the road with a broken leg, a heartless warden from Lambeth Council slapped a £100 ticket on his bike.
The cavalry attack
You leave your horse in the street and what do you expect to find when you get back? A small pile of manure perhaps, but not a parking ticket.
Yet this is exactly what happened to Robert McFarland, a retired blacksmith from Yorkshire, when he left his horse Charlie Boy for a few moments.
Under the vehicle description on the ticket, the over-zealous warden had written "brown horse".
You've been ticketed:A warden prepares to issue a fine. But some attendants take rather less care over details, as our list shows
The daylight robbery
It was a terrifying ordeal for Fred Holt, 77, when he went to the bank and two masked men burst in brandishing an axe and a machete.
The robbers held the axe to a young cashier's throat while money was handed over, and the customers were forced to lie on the floor. Later, they had to give statements to police.
It seems traffic wardens had not listened when officers told them about the raid and asked them not to issue tickets. Mr Holt found a £30 parking ticket pinned to his windscreen for staying 20 minutes longer than allowed.
The donor kebab
"Do something amazing today" runs the slogan of the National Blood Service. In Sutton, a traffic warden did just that - by ticketing a blood donor lorry.
The mobile National Blood Service truck had parked at the same spot in Sutton, Surrey, for four years when the zealous parking attendant issued a ticket while donors gave blood inside.
Sutton council eventually waived the fine, saying the parking attendant had made a simple error of judgment. Or to put it more aptly, a rush of blood to the head.
The bus stop gambit
Manchester bus driver Chris O'Mahony pulled up at a bus stop in his No 77 to let passengers on. While he was handing them their tickets, a Manchester City Council parking attendant handed him one.
Passengers looked on in disbelief as the warden joined the queue to prepare the parking ticket, deposited the £40 notice and walked off.
The driver, apparently, had parked in a restricted area. The attendant said he'd been told to issue tickets to buses that park.
Council bosses cancelled the ticket and the warden was sent for retraining - hopefully as something other than a warden.
The heart attack attack
David Holmes felt chest pains as he was driving and headed for hospital, where he was forced to park on the roadside and was treated for a heart attack.
A nurse thoughtfully left a note on the windscreen explaining the emergency and saying Mr Holmes's daughter would pick the car up later.
It proved futile. A parking attendant slapped a parking ticket on the car and despite an appeal to the local council the £40 fine was not cancelled.
The random posting
Krister Nylander was dismayed to receive a parking ticket in the post for parking in Warwick.
But he knew the ticket had to be wrong - he lives in Sweden and had not visited England since he was 16.
The offending vehicle was his 20-ton snowmobile, which had barely ever left his barn, let alone Sweden.
How did it get the ticket? Absolutely no Ikea.
Driving home the lesson
A driving instructor was issued with a CCTV parking ticket when his pupil stalled while attempting a three-point turn and could not restart the car.
The offence? Parking more than 50 centimetres from the kerb.
• List compiled with the help of Barrie Segal, founder of AppealNow.com and author of the book, The Parking Ticket Awards: Crazy Councils, Meter Madness and Traffic Warden Hell To buy a copy, visit appealnow.com/book.html
Friday, March 28, 2008
Win the Prize for the 1st parking ticket issued under new Parking Laws
The new Parking Laws (under the Traffic Management Act 2004) come into force at 00.01 on 31st March 2008.NATIONAL COMPETITION
Parking Appeals.co.uk is not only offering FREE LIFETIME'S MEMBERSHIP to the website and a bottle of champagne for the person who gets the first ticket in the country, we will also appeal that winner's ticket on behalf of the motorist, and, should the appeal be lost, we will also pay the ticket.
REGIONAL COMPETITION
As well as the national prize we will also be running a competition in each local authority area, broken down by Council area, London Borough or Transport for London. Again, simply scan the ticket, register your details and send it to us at simon@parkingappeals.co.uk
The first prize in each area for the first ticket issued in each area will be offered a year's free membership to the site.
Nominations are open for a month, so send us a scan of your ticket and we will get you on the leader board.
Meanwhile, you can still join by clicking the link below ...
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Parking enforcement ... the new stealth tax in Cambridge
Cambridge Evening News
raymond.brown@cambridge-news.co.uk
THE favourite haunts of traffic wardens in Cambridge can now be revealed by the News.
Parking fine blackspots have been pinpointed street by street using information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The top 10 places where city motorists are more likely to be ticketed can now be revealed.
Since parking fines were taken out of the hands of police in October 2004 the number of fines issued has quadrupled. Campaigners have accused the council of using its powers as a "stealth tax".
More than 120,000 fines have been dished out by wardens, but just 10,000 tickets were issued by police the year before they handed the role over to Cambridge City Council. Since then the authority has raked in a massive £3.6m - more than enough to cover the £2m to pay for 100 extra officers Chief Constable Julie Spence says she needs to tackle an influx of migrants since the EU expanded in 2004.
Now we have identified the streets where wardens have been firing on all cylinders. And you can find out what's happening with wardens in your street on Cambridge News online.
A total of 40,000 tickets were issued from February 2007 to January 2008. In the same period the previous year, 42,000 were doled out.More than 41,000 parking fines were slapped on cars in the previous year and 6,700 from November 2004 to January 2005.
Neil Herron, of Parking Appeals, a campaign helping people fight parking fines, has accused the council of revenue-raising and believes it has made no difference to traffic woes.
He said: "There won't be a difference in traffic flow in Cambridge after decriminalisation. The only difference will be that the money raised by police went to a central pot but the money made by the council goes to the council."
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that this has everything to do with revenue-raising. It is a stealth tax on motorists and has hit local businesses."
Cambridge City councillor Rob Dryden believes people are less likely to park illegally - but called for common sense from wardens.
He said: "I think that now people are not so willing to stop on double yellow lines to nip to the shop and it may have stopped people parking in disabled bays. But there must be common sense from wardens."
Those who have fallen foul of wardens include a circus, a coach carrying children to a pantomime, a disabled man's mobility scooter and a coach taking pensioners on a mayoral outing. Moscow State Circus manager Paul Archer was shocked when his lorry was delivering to Cambridge Corn Exchange, where the big show was performing.
And a parking ticket was slapped on a coach as the driver waited to collect primary school pupils after a pantomime.John Turnock, owner of Anglian Travel, based in Haddenham, had sent one of his coaches to help pick up 350 children from the Arts Theatre, but the driver received a ticket as he waited for them.
Emergency EDF electricians also fell foul of wardens. They returned to find tickets on their vans in Peas Hill - number nine in the top 10 - after they had fixed a major fault at the Arts Theatre.
Even a disabled man's mobility vehicle was ticketed while it was parked in a designated area after his permit was stolen.
Raphael Piran, 36, of Radegund Road, Cambridge is wheelchair bound. The disabled parking badge he kept stuck inside his windscreen was stolen and wardens gave him a ticket while parked outside the Arts Theatre - which was later thrown out on appeal last year.
And dozens of Cambridge pensioners nearly missed out on the Mayor's trip to the seaside - after one of the city council's own parking attendants slapped a ticket on their coach.Red-faced councillors on the trip later apologised for the blunder.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
CCTV to dish out parking tickets
The time has come to put an end to this outrageous stealth tax.
CCTV TO DISH OUT PARKING TICKETSFury over fines by post plan
By Adrian Butler
Adrian.Butler@Sundaymirror.Co.Uk
23/03/2008
Traffic spies watching CCTV screens will dish out parking tickets from next week - without drivers knowing.
Anyone pulling over for a couple of minutes could be caught but won't find out until the letter arrives.
Motorists' groups were in uproar last night over the new laws, the impact of which were revealed earlier this month by the Sunday Mirror's Judge Tread.
They say they will lead to confusion, with thousands of drivers being fined for pulling over on to yellow lines for just a few minutes.
Campaigner Neil Herron said: "You might be pulling over to make a phone call or drop someone off and two weeks later you'll get a fine.
You'll be able to appeal, but it's outrageous you'd have to go through that in the first place."
Patrolling wardens - renamed "civil enforcement officers" - will no longer have to put tickets on windscreens.
And the fines are up to £80, or £50 for less serious offences. For drivers in London the new penalties are £120 and £80. Mr Herron, whose firm parking appeals.co.uk is helping to launch a sat-nav recording system to aid appeals, added:
"Motorists are about to suffer a deluge of increased enforcement. Britain's parking system is rapidly becoming a lawless, unacceptable stealth tax."
Consumer group Which? said the new tickets will be hard to fight as drivers may have no idea they were to get one until it arrived so would not have the opportunity to gather evidence.
Councils can use cameras to spot offences where it is "too difficult or sensitive" for a warden to work.
The AA is particularly worried about wardens not having to put a ticket on a windscreen. A spokesman said:
"We believe it is crucial a ticket is completed before a vehicle moves off.
Enforcement should be about prohibiting obstructive parking, not about postal fines after the event."
But it's not all bad news - clamping will be used only for persistent offenders, and councils will have to spend proceeds from tickets on improving transport.
Transport Minister Rosie Winterton said the new rules were fairer and would improve safety.
Death knell sounds for Private Land Parking Firms with landmark ruling
Judge quashes £300 parking fine...because it set out to ‘frighten and intimidate’ driverBy MARTIN DELGADO
Mail on Sunday
22nd March 2008
Car park operators could be forced to stop threatening motorists with huge penalty charges after a landmark court ruling.
In a decision that will be welcomed by many aggrieved drivers, a judge has ruled that the demands for hundreds of pounds in penalties which a parking company sent to one woman driver were illegal because they were too high.
The court was told they were intended to "frighten or intimidate" her rather than compensate the firm for any lost income.
The case is expected to have far-reaching implications for private parking firms.
Labour MP Alan Meale, who has campaigned on behalf of motorists, said: "This ruling gives hope that people who have had money taken from them wrongly by parking companies may be able to recover it."

And the woman's solicitor, Martin Lee, said: "In future, companies that charge these sorts of sums will have them struck out unless they can prove that they are a proper account of any financial loss.
"The courts have shown that unfairly high bank charges are a penalty charge and therefore unjustifiable. The same principle applies here."
In a ground-breaking decision, the judge quashed a series of £100 demands sent to Victoria Hetherington-Jakeman, who had allegedly left her car at a shopping centre for more than the permitted two hours.
She was sued by Excel Parking Services, which is run by a man once acquitted of demanding money with menaces from the owners of clamped cars and who is allowed electronic access to the Government's database of 38million motorists – despite being temporarily barred last year following scores of complaints about its behaviour.
Ms Hetherington-Jakeman, 60, was sued for failing to pay three £60 parking tickets which she did not even know she had been given.
Her visits to the Portland Retail Park near her home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, took place between September and November 2006.
But no tickets were left on the windscreen of her Mercedes and she heard nothing from Excel until the following January when she was sent a bill for £300, followed by letters from bailiffs threatening to confiscate her property unless she paid up.
Excel had used a fixed camera to record her numberplate as she entered and left the site. It then passed the details to the DVLA, which sent back an email with her name and address.
Mr Lee told Mansfield County Court that the levy of £100 per offence was an "unlawful penalty clause" intended to "frighten or intimidate" and therefore unenforceable.
This argument was accepted by District Judge Wall, who ruled that the fines did not have to be paid.
Last night, Ms Hetherington-Jakeman, who is head of quality control at a printing firm, said she was relieved her 14-month battle was over.
"Excel's behaviour has been absolutely disgraceful throughout. When I tried to contact them – and the only way to do that was on a 50p-a-minute premium-rate phone line – I got no response. They said they couldn't discuss the matter.
"They couldn't even get the most basic details right. First, they said my car was black, then silver. It's white.
"They claimed the initial £60 parking tickets hadn't arrived because of a hold-up at the Royal Mail, though the Post Office said that wasn't true.
"It's been very stressful but at least we have got the judgment we wanted."
Excel, which manages a number of hospital, retail and station car parks, is run from an office in Sheffield by Simon Renshaw-Smith, 41, who is also director of a wheel-clamping firm called Captain Clampit Ltd.
In 1993 he was accused at Sheffield magistrates' court of demanding £145 with menaces from two drivers whose cars he had immobilised.Asked last night about the case, Mr Renshaw-Smith said: "The accusations against me were dropped. I was acquitted."
Last July, Excel was finally removed from the "approved" list of organisations allowed electronic access to the DVLA's database.
It followed complaints from around the country and the formation of a 100-strong action group in Mansfield made up entirely of motorists who claimed they had been unfairly treated by Excel.
The move meant that Excel was forced to apply for personal data by post on a case-by-case basis.
Yet the ban was lifted only three months later. A DVLA spokesman said inspectors visited the firm and decided it was using the data "appropriately".
MP Mr Meale said he would demand an explanation of the decision from Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly.
Martin Bingley, a spokesman for the Mansfield action group, said: "Excel has an appalling reputation for failing to respond to appeals and for insisting they are right and the customer wrong."
Excel, which has now lost its contract to run the Portland car park, said it was "disappointed" by the court ruling in Ms Hetherington-Jakeman's favour and was considering an appeal.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Another Parking Appeals Victory ... this time Medway Council toppled
The reason why they cancelled the ticket is perfectly clear ... they didn't want this brought before an adjudicator or referred upwards to the High Court.
Parking Appeals has a message to every motorist who has received a parking ticket in Medway in the last 7 years ... drop us a line at enquiries@parkingappeals.co.uk and you may be in for a surprise.
Meanwhile, anyone with a current ticket ... drop us a line and we will show you exactly how to appeal successfully.
Parking Appeals' member Ian Holland's is set to become a local hero which is not a bad result for £9.99 for twelve month's membership.
We have been provided with some of the comments from a Medway Council spokesman attempting to defend the authority's approach to parking fines ... (before the appeal went in).
My comments are in red.
He said: "The council regularly checks its parking procedures with the Department for Transport and the National Parking Adjudication Service."
A series of questions and a Freedom of Information Request has been submitted.
"The wording on both the penalty charge notice and notice to owner is legal and accurate."
Well let's get a case to the adjudicator and test it. Anyone in Medway got a ticket pending?
"The use of the word 'offence' is a commonly used adjective that the majority of the public would understand."
It's a noun ... and the draftsmen of the legislation would not take kindly to councils 'assuming' what they meant and replacing words with ones they consider would be 'more easily understood.'
"The parking adjudicator suggests that the word 'contravention' and not 'offence' should be used on the notice to owner, but this is only a suggestion and this is not mandatory."
Schedule 6 of the 1991 Road Traffic Act is mandatory. Can't wait for the source of the statement from the parking adjudicator.
"The penalty charge notice therefore legally still stands, but the holder may still use our appeals process."
He did and the ticket was cancelled for one of the best excuses we have ever heard. Read it below ...
Motorist wins parking fine fight ...
• Victory over wording on notice could spark flood of appeals
by Hayley Robinson
hrobinson@thekmgroup.co.uk
Medway Messenger
A MOTORIST has won his battle against a parking fine because of incorrect wording.
Ian Hollands was issued with the ticket in Rochester High Street while carrying out security work at a jewellery shop on New Year's Eve.
But a Notice to Owner document, issued to motorists when they haven't paid their penalty charge within 28 days, describes the violation as an 'offence'.
Protest group parkingappeals.co.uk told Mr Hollands that under the decriminalised scheme brought in by the Road Traffic Act 1991, as no crime has occurred, the use of the word 'offence' rendered the penalty invalid.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of parking tickets issued to motorists could be challenged.
Medway Council has given another reason for their decision to cancel the ticket.
Its letter to Mr Hollands reads:
"It has been recorded that you had a conversation with the parking attendant at the time that the ticket was issued and the attendant noted that you were working in the High Street at the time."
Mr Hollands said:
"Like anyone, I'm pleased that I don't have to pay the fine but I'm disappointed Medway Council has not addressed the issue that the wrong wording is being used on their Notice to Owner letter."
Medway Council said the wording was legal and accurate and it is suggested, not mandatory, that the word 'contravention' and not 'offence' should be used on the notice to owner.
Nick (?) Herron, spokesman for the website, says the council is wrong.
He said:
"It is a mandatory requirement to use the word contravention instead of offence as in schedule six of the Road Traffic Act 1991."
Medway Messenger, 21 March 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
2006 Fraud Act ... but only when it suits
The BBC reports today ...More parents lie to get schools
Competition for places in top schools is intense Local councils in England say increasing numbers of parents have been caught trying to cheat to get places for their children at popular schools.
More ...
What is very interesting is the fact the Local Government Association is quoted as saying that "Parents who use false addresses are breaking the law under the Fraud Act 2006."
But how many councils have lied about aspects of parking enforcement? Rather than considering Misfeasance or Malfeasance in public office perhaps a quicker and cleaner route is a criminal complaint to the Police. After all, what's good enough for the LGA to use against parents, is good enough for motorists to use against councils and their officers.
Now, with a consideration for the local authorities on matters relating to parking enforcement, lets look at the 2006 Fraud Act:
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.
(2) A representation is false if—
(a) it is untrue or misleading, and
(b) the person making it knows that it is, or might be, untrue or misleading.
(3) “Representation” means any representation as to fact or law, including a representation as to the state of mind of—
(a) the person making the representation, or
(b) any other person.
(4) A representation may be express or implied.
(5) For the purposes of this section a representation may be regarded as made if it (or anything implying it) is submitted in any form to any system or device designed to receive, convey or respond to communications (with or without human intervention).
3 Fraud by failing to disclose information
A person is in breach of this section if he—
(a) dishonestly fails to disclose to another person information which he is under a legal duty to disclose, and
(b) intends, by failing to disclose the information—
(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.
4 Fraud by abuse of position
(1) A person is in breach of this section if he—
(a) occupies a position in which he is expected to safeguard, or not to act against, the financial interests of another person,
(b) dishonestly abuses that position, and
(c) intends, by means of the abuse of that position—
(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.
(2) A person may be regarded as having abused his position even though his conduct consisted of an omission rather than an act.
Now just consider the activities of some councils (and council officers) in relation to parking enforcement:
- issuing Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) they knew did not comply with the law.
- continuing to enforce PCNs that they know to be non-compliant
- using paperwork they know to be non-compliant and continuing to enforce, and derive revenue, from such paperwork
- continuing to issue PCNs where signs and lines are unlawful
- how many have cancelled or 'no contested'
What do you think the Local Government Association's take will be on this?
If you want to ask them they can be contacted here
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
£120 parking fines for motorists while vandals, shoplifters and drunks just need to say they'll be good.
Parking fines increased to £120 but vandals, shoplifters and drunks just need to say that they'll be good and their fines are waived. If ever evidence was needed that the motorist was simply the most convenient victim of this highly lucrative stealth tax then this is it.
Enforcement is easy. Detection is simple ...one electronic request to the DVLA. Then punishment should you wish to resist ... could be you'll lose your car.
... and don't forget that the 'independent' adjudicators, NPAS (and PATAS) are financially dependent on the parking enforcement 'industry' too. In the case of NPAS they receive 60p from EVERY ticket issued (outside of London). Do you class that as independent?
Motorists face £120 parking fines
By Stephen Adams
Daily Telegraph
19/03/2008
Motorists are facing a significant increase in the cost of parking fines under new laws giving councils the power to issue tickets of up to £120.
Higher fines will be issued to motorists who park on a double yellow line on important routes.
The laws, which come into force at the end of the month, enable local authorities, for the first time, to set different levels of fines for different parking offences.
In London, motorists face fines of up to £120 while outside the capital the maximum penalty will be £70. More
Now read this
Vandals can avoid a spot fine by saying they'll be goodEvening Standard
30th May 2007
Shoplifters, drunks and vandals will escape paying on-the-spot fines if they promise to behave for a few months, it emerged last night.
Thousands of yobs will be let off with "deferred" fixed-penalty notices each year.
Where once they would have been hauled into court, criminals will have their £80 fines suspended if they sign an Acceptable Behaviour Contract. More ...
If this does not make you realise that you have to stand up to be counted to prevent the escalation of this absurd dichotomy then there is no hope.
ParkingAppeals.co.uk is committed to ending the injustice and abuse motorists are facing in the name of what purports to be 'parking enforcement' which is now perceived by the majority as nothing more than a form of licensed highway robbery which makes Dick Turpin look like a pillar of virtue.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Parking Attendant offers to tear up a parking ticket for sex
This little story was reported in today's Sun.
Now we have had a few tickets from Westminster and never had such an offer. The usual mantra chanted by councils is that once a parking ticket is written out it cannot be cancelled by the Parking Attendant. Clearly this is not the case.
'I'll tear up your ticket for sex'
Chris Semple
The Sun
18th March 2008
A TRAFFIC warden told a shocked woman he’d rip up her parking ticket — if she performed a sex act on him.
He offered the vile “deal” after slapping the fine on Gemma Patten’s windscreen.
Distraught Gemma, 22, got in her VW Polo and locked all the doors.
She said: “I was disgusted. He’s clearly a sicko and shouldn’t be working in such a position of authority.”
More ...
Sunday, March 16, 2008
The Sunday Mirror's Judge Tread takes Offence
Legal expert Ollie Mishcon aka Judge Tread has also picked up on Medway Council's non-compliant Notice to Owner.
Where does that leave motorists who have paid?
Well, anyone who ticked the box and then lost an appeal should ask for their money back. However, this will be an even bigger embarrassment for the National Parking Adjudication Service whose adjudicators failed to pick up on this fundamental 'offensive' error (in over 970 appeals)*... and who have yet again been shown up to be crassly incompetent ... no offence intended.
If that is the case then you can ask NPAS for an out of time review.
To add to the NPAS embarrassment, at the Traffic Law Seminar in Leeds in July 2003 ( the minutes of which are on the DfT website) councils were told by the National Parking Adjudication Service (the adjudication body to deal with appeals after a council has rejected an appeal against a Notice to Owner) to 'mind their language.'
Parking matters are no longer 'offences' ... they are contraventions. 'A person is no longer guilty of an offence.'
Well, perhaps the adjudicators should have been told as well 'cos it looks like quite a few non-compliant notices have slipped through somebody's fingers.
Parking Appeals is the website campaigning for the rights of beleaguered motorist ... and exposing those councils who think that they are above the law.
Remember, NPAS receives 60p from EVERY PCN issued in the country, and that is their only source of funding.
* Medway NPAS Appeals2000-2001 = 118
2001-2002 = 204
2002-2003 = 190
2003 = 176
2004 = 95
2005 = 191
Total 974
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Medway Council Parking Blunder
This is another paperwork blunder by a local authority.On the left is a Notice to Owner issued by Medway Council. This is the document that you get after 28 days if you do not pay (or receive) a Penalty Charge Notice (Parking Ticket).
The Notice to Owner has to be correctly worded in order to comply with the legal requirements of the 1991 Road Traffic Act.
In this instance Medway Council have made a rather large blunder meaning that everyone who has received such a document can immediately ask for the Penalty Charge Notice to be cancelled.
Parking Appeals is a campaigning website that will not only tell you exactly why the Notice to Owner is unlawful ... and how to appeal it, but will also expose any local authority which
believes it is above the law.It only costs £9.99 a year to support what we do. Simply click on the Parking Appeals logo below to become a member (and get an extra month free from this link).
If you then want to then find out why this Notice to Owner is non-compliant and therefore unlawful, once you are a member simply go to
"Had a Ticket"
then to
"Penalty Charge Notice" and it will all become clear when you check out the 'Common Paperwork Mistakes' section.
I am sure that you will then say how on earth could they get something so simple so wrong?
This is typical of many local authorities around the country and once you are a member of Parking Appeals you will have access to all this information. Can you afford not to join?
