One rule for one ... and crocodile tears ...

Adopting the council's philosophy that this was 'an administrative error' and therefore anyone who paid the PCN they have accepted the penalty perhaps any motorist who buys a pay and display ticket but gets back a few minutes late can make the same excuse.

How many other councils CCTV PCNs have the same error?

Will there be any sympathy from the motorist as the council sheds its crocodile tears?

Parking ‘clerical error’ joy for drivers
Bolton Evening News
9:10am Monday 7th March 2011

HUNDREDS of drivers have escaped a parking fine after town hall bosses admitted a clerical error had been made on some tickets.

Motorist Barry Moss noticed Bolton Council was putting a short code on its fixed penalty notices when it should have been using a long code.

In a Freedom of Information request, the council admitted cancelling 214 tickets and writing off 428 others because they used the short code.

The authority began using the long code on November 17 last year.

Mr Moss, aged 64, of Hindley Road, Westhoughton, called for the authority to refund every other ticket with the short code on it which could number nearly 2,800.

But the council said payers had already accepted liability.

At the centre of the matter is the council’s CCTV smart car which has been used since November, 2009, to collect evidence on lawbreaking motorists.

Tickets are issued in the form of a letter in the post rather than a notice on their windscreen.

Joe Cumbo, aged 67, got two tickets for parking on a single yellow line in Bury Road, Breightmet, last March. He paid one but, after speaking to Mr Moss, challenged the second— and the council cancelled it because of a “clerical error”.

Mr Cumbo, of Breightmet Drive, Breightmet, said: “The other ticket had the same code, so why can’t I get a refund?

It’s wrong.”

Tracey Pilkington, aged 44, of Westhoughton, also had her ticket cancelled on the same grounds after parking on double yellow lines in Market Street, Westhoughton.

Council figures show 2,786 people were ticketed from November 1, 2009, to November 5, 2010, as a result of the Smartcar evidence and, of those, motorists paid a total of £83,792.50 in fines.

A council spokesman said: “An adjudicator in a particular case took a view that the detail about the parking contravention on the parking contravention notice could have been clearer.

“Software has since been amended to include further detail of the contravention that occurred to be as clear as possible.

“We chose to cancel these two unpaid tickets, as although they were enforceable, we accepted the view that the parking contravention could have been clearer.

“However, if a customer has paid the fine, then they have accepted that they have parked where they should not have done.”

New parking fine threat to motorists ...

and another licence to print money for the councils. When inconsiderate parking was handled by the Police any argument could be heard before a court of law ... but more importantly, proper consideration would be given to the gravity of the situation because the Police did not have a financial interest in the outcome.
Now vehicles can be fined but the problem remains as the vehicle will still be 'causing the alleged obstruction.' The only difference is that the more tickets issued the richer the councils become. Also bear in mind that to prove your innocence your only option is to go before an adjudicator ... who is funded by the very system he is being asked to deliberate upon.

This lawless 'civil enforcement' has torn up the rules of justice and fairness and continues to ride roughshod over the country's motorists. At what point will you say enough is enough ... when YOU are fined £120 for being 51cm away from the kerb?

New parking fine threat to motorists
Millions of motorists risk being fined up to £70 for "anti-social parking" such as parking more than 19 inches from the kerb even if there are no warning signs under new proposals unveiled by the Government.
By David Millward, Transport Editor
Daily Telegraph
29 Jul 2008

Drivers who park too far from the kerb or by a dropped kerb would be at risk of receiving a penalty charge.

The Department for Transport is ready to allow councils to impose fines even where no warning signs which note restrictions have been placed.

This would hit motorists who are guilty of "inconsiderate parking", such as leaving their cars more than 19.7 inches (50cm) from the kerb.

Drivers who park by a dropped kerb would also be at risk of receiving a penalty charge notice from a council traffic warden – now known as a civil enforcement officer.

Under existing arrangements police have the right to remove a car which is causing an obstruction – such as double parking and blocking in another motorist.
They can also move cars left by dropped kerbs when there is a complaint – for example from someone whose driveway has been blocked.
Councils, however, can only issue fines when they put up notices making it clear to motorists that parking restrictions are in force.

Motoring campaigners fear that town halls will capitalise on these new powers just as they did when they were first given the right to control parking and pocket the fines under "decriminalisation".
"Nuisance parking should be tackled and the original intention of the guidance was to give drivers half a chance from committing an offence," said Paul Watters, head of roads policy at the AA.
"Now it seems now that councils want the powers to levy fines without any responsibility to deter unwelcome parking and worse they do not have to prove anything if it came to an appeal.
"The current position has worked well as blatant obstruction was always simple to deal with.
"If a car is causing a problem it is towed way. It's as simple as that.
"These proposals introduce a massive grey area which will lead to countless disputes where motorists will say they were unaware they were doing anything wrong.
"The danger is that if councils can make money out of this they will."

Barrie Segal, whose organisation AppealNow regularly takes up the case of thousands of motorists, was equally horrified.
"If councils get these powers, the number of tickets will zoom."

But Rosie Winternton, the roads minister, defended the changes. "Dropped footways are provided to help wheelchair users and those with powered mobility vehicles or prams get around easily and safely. They also allow residents to easily reach their garages or park on their driveways."
The minister also insisted that action against double parking was essential, describing it as an “anti-social activity that causes an unnecessary obstruction of the road, putting all other road users at risk.”
The changes will apply to councils outside London which will be brought into line with authorities within the capital.

Motoring organisations’ biggest fear is that those who are caught by the changes will have no knowledge that they are even parking illegally at all.

In some cases confusion could arise with motorists - and council traffic wardens - unsure whether cars have been parked next to a kerb which has been lowered to allow wheelchair access or one which is merely worn down.
However the Government believes the changes are justified and that forcing councils to put up signs would add to “street clutter”.

Cars with foreign number plates get away with parking fines

It's not rocket science to work out that if your vehicle is not registered with the DVLA then you cannot be traced for parking and speeding fines. Nor do you have to pay the Congestion Charge.

This is another 'flaw' arising from our 'relationship' with the EU because the free movement of people (and cars) has meant that there are no internal borders within the EU. So, after May 1st 2004 when the EU enlarged over a million people have moved here to live and work, mainly from the new accession eastern European countries. Given that the Government's predictions were 13,500 (out by a factor of 50 in the first 6 months alone) then is it any wonder that the vehicle problem was not addressed?

What also must be borne in mind is that foreign registered vehicles do not have UK MOTs and therefore could be driving on the roads in a less than roadworthy condition.

The scale of the problem is going to be highlighted when checking the number of speeding and parking tickets which have to be written off ... as there is no reciprocal arrangement between members states and even if there was it would be administratively inefficient to pursue registered keepers. And there is another point ... the Registered Keeper is responsible for all decriminalised or civil parking and moving contraventions. It is only speeding where the liability resides with the driver.

Just imagine the case of a Polish father being held responsible for the parking fines of his son who has the family car in the UK ... that would be a case that would most certainly end up in the European Court of Human Rights ... yet we tolerate it here.

Meanwhile, here is the story that will spark lots of similar Freedom of Information requests to councils ...

Foreign drivers avoid £130,000 in Lancashire parking fines
Lancashire Telegraph

2nd July 2008
By Tom Moseley

FOREIGN drivers have escaped without paying £130,000 in parking fines in Lancashire in four years.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show 2,250 tickets have been cancelled since 2004 because they were given to foreign vehicles.

Experts say there is no way of pursuing the fines, which “might as well be thrown in the bin”.

But bosses at Parkwise admit they have no idea how many tickets are still being given out to foreign cars.

Parking campaigner Neil Herron said: “There is no way to trace the vehicle’s owner.
" If you issue a ticket to a foreign-registered vehicle you might as well throw it in the bin, because it will have to be written off.
“They issue the ticket in the remote possibility that it will be paid.
"If it is not paid they need to send a notice to the owner - but that must be the person on the DVLA database.”

The Lancashire Telegraph asked Parkwise how many parking tickets relating to foreign drivers were currently unpaid - but were told this information was not recorded, because wardens could not always tell whether a car is from overseas.

However, the ‘foreign vehicle cancellation report’ showed hundreds of tickets were being written off each year.

Almost 6,000 parking tickets were listed as ‘outstanding’ in a recent audit of Parkwise, which controls parking enforcement throughout Lancashire except for Blackburn with Darwen.
The scheme, a partnership between district councils and County Hall, has been dogged by administration costs and it was recently revealed it cost as much as £60 to issue a ticket in each area.

The project is set to be abandoned in its current form when the current contract expires in September 2009.

Mr Herron added: “If they are inefficient working with the DVLA think how inefficient they will be with foreign authorities.
“It may well be that the best thing for them to do would be to ignore foreign drivers for administrative purposes.”

A Parkwise spokesman said: “Foreign vehicles which are issued with a penalty charge notice are treated in the same way as UK registered vehicles.
“Civil enforcement officers are required to issue a PCN to any vehicle parked in contravention regardless of where they are from.
“Parkwise also follow the same statutory process and will enter into correspondence at foreign addresses when required.”

A neat way to avoid a parking ticket ...

But for those of you who haven't got the legs for it there's always ParkingAppeals.co.uk

What do Scottish Councils do when they make a mistake with their parking enforcement regime?

They have to write off the money.

Get the law wrong and pay the price ... a message to councils everywhere.

The law means ... lines, signs(Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002), Traffic Orders (Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Local Authority Traffic Order Procedures 1996) and associated paperwork issued under the 1991 Road Traffic Act or the 2004 Traffic Management Act.

Employing council officers on salaries of £100k+ means you have NO EXCUSE for not understanding the law and abiding by it.

The Scotsman
23 April 2008
By JULIA KOGAN

A LOCAL authority that is making £27 million cuts to services has had to write off more than £2.5 million in unpaid parking fines, it was revealed yesterday.

A confidential report said some 34,260 tickets issued in Aberdeen over four years had had to be scrapped because of a legal mistake.The fines cover the period since the city council took control of parking from the police in 2003, and they have been written off on the orders of the local authority's city chamberlain, Susan Cooper.

Councillors are being asked to write off £82,200 for 1,034 tickets from only seven people over the same four years.

The move comes after a court ruled all parking tickets should include the date of the offence and date the ticket was issued.

A High Court judge in England made the ruling after two successful appeals against Barnet Council.Aberdeen City Council tickets used to include only the date of the parking offence, but this was changed in October 2006.

Under Aberdeen City Council's rules, individual debts of up to £10,000 can be written off without prior approval of councillors.

The report states: "Parking office staff, on the basis of advice from the office of the city solicitor and local sheriff officers, now consider the outstanding penalty charge notices issued prior to 4 October, 2006 are unrecoverable."

Labour councillor Willie Young said: "This is atrocious news. This is public money that was owed to the council. More should have been done at the time to chase it up."

The city council's plans for cuts in services have led to widespread protests.

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'

Unfortunately things are not 'fine' and the never will be ... because Justice Collin's in Robin Decrittenden's case, stated that parking tickets were not 'fines' they were 'civil responsibilities' and as such did not fall foul of the Bill of Rights 1689, which states:

"That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void."

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.

You can appeal of course ... to an independent adjudicator. How is he funded? Well, he receives a levy of 60p from every 'fine.'

This is precisely why the Bill of Rights 1689 was created ... to prevent the abuse of the people by those in power ... and now they are 'at it' again. Is it any wonder that Decriminalised Parking Enforcement has decended into the lawless, uncontrolled, unregulated shambles that it is ... nothing more than licensed highway robbery.

The other amusing statement from 'our future is Rosie' was that all the councils were ready. At this moment in time we shall beg to differ ... but we have the evidence that she doesn't ;-)

The 31st March 2008 is the beginning of the end of Decriminalised Parking Enforcement. CCTV enforcement rolled out across the country. Civil Enforcement Officers allowed to issue parking tickets by post?

This was the day they went just a step too far.

10 Most Unreasonable Parking Tickets ... and it's gonna get worse than this

If you have had an 'unreasonable' parking ticket let us know ... admin@parkingappeals.co.uk

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

CCTV to dish out parking tickets

Minister Rosie Winterton is so far off the pace. Giving tickets to people two weeks AFTER an alleged contravention is not fairer Mrs. Winterton, it's outrageous. As for saying that it will improve safety ... for who? Those sitting watching CCTV harvesting cash and sticking the stamps on the parking fine envelopes?

The time has come to put an end to this outrageous stealth tax.


CCTV TO DISH OUT PARKING TICKETS
Fury 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.