Today at the High Court ...

After a hectic day at the High Court just TalkSPORT left to do.

Just want to say thanks to everyone for their support from the legal team to everyone who has offered practical, moral and financial support and to the press and media for ensuring that the message got out there. You have all been fantastic. We stood toe to toe with the might of the establishment ... and their worried faces said it all.

Regardless of the way the decision goes we are witnessing the death throes of decriminalised parking as an out of control stealth tax on Britain's motorists.

To all the council officers and Government officials who believe in open, transparent and accountable government we thank you for your integrity, especially those who continue to provide evidence of the failings of others who fall way short of what is required from paid public servants.

A decision will be handed down in a week's time. Regardless of the outcome, the fight goes on.

North East press covers the Manifesto launch

Copy on its way to Sunderland Council ...

Neil's the driving force behind parking reform
Published Date: 26 February 2010
By Tim Booler
A BOLDON businessman is the driving force behind a national campaign for parking reform.
Neil Herron has organised a manifesto calling for changes to implement "fair parking and traffic management procedures" to benefit motorists across the UK.Launched at the House of Lords, the 103-page Motorists' Manifesto is backed by organisations including the AA, Safe Speed, the Drivers' Alliance and the British Motorcyclists' Federation.

It also has a fighting fund – set up by Lord Lucas of Crudwell and Dingwall, and actor Tom Conti – to support legal action against councils the campaigners claim flout the law to raise cash. Mr Herron, who runs Boldon-based Parking Appeals Ltd, said: "We hope the public supports the campaign to put an end to parking enforcement as a stealth tax."

The document has been drawn up by the London Motorists' Action Group, the Drivers' Alliance and the Motorists' Legal Challenge Fund, in conjunction with industry policy-makers.

Mr Herron said he hoped the Motorists' Manifesto will spark reform to end "systemic failings since the implementation of decriminalised parking in the 90s".

The former Sunderland market trader added: "The use of private 'for profit' contractors does not sit well with accountable local authority services."The lack of regulation and scrutiny by an inspectorate and lack of political will has meant that many an authority has turned a collective blind eye. "Britain's motorists are now prepared to fight back. We want a system that is fair, just and transparent, and our manifesto represents a line in the sand and the start of a new way forward."

The British Parking Association (BPA) said it recognises some issues referred to in the manifesto, and "wholeheartedly supports the need to ensure that all parking enforcement is undertaken fairly, reasonably and legitimately".

Had a ticket in Ealing ... better read this and tell your friends

Ealing's Councillor Taylor says: "We have to draw the line somewhere ..." May I humbly suggest that he gets permission AND legal advice first. Ealing Council is already in enough trouble drawing lines where they shouldn't!

Ealing Council could be investigated by police for fraud
10:38am Thursday 11th December 2008
Ealing Times
By Alex Hayes

POLICE could be called in to investigate Ealing Council for fraud after it refused to hand out refunds for cash taken on unlawful box junctions.

Cops are investigating a north London borough where 73 tickets were handed out by the local council on one unlawfully marked box junction.

This number is dwarfed by the 59,728 penalties handed out by Ealing Council in the past two years on six junctions which were finally taken up earlier this month, following advice from the Department of Transport (DfT).

Ealing Council has agreed to repay people sent £100 tickets from the junctions in Southall, Hanwell and Ealing Broadway, from June 20, when it was revealed last week the council was told the markings were wrong by the DfT.

However, campaigners are now pushing councillors to refund every penny dished out by drivers since the junctions were put in place in 2004.

Jim Douglas, a campaigner for the Motorists Legal Challenge, an organisation set up to challenge councils over incorrect road markings, said the group was considering calling in police to investigate Ealing Council on grounds of fraud.

He said: "The principles of British law have shown the money is refundable from when it started to be taken unlawfully, and not from when the council was told it was wrong.
"This has been proven in court with banks found guilty of mis-selling policies. They offered to pay back cash from when they discovered products were being mis-sold, but were told to pay back the whole lot.
"We still want the council to admit its mistake and pay back the cash, but until it does this it will have dirty money on its books."

Mr Douglas also said police investigating the other box junction had admitted it was a sensitive area, because of their close working relationship with the local authority.
Ealing Council has spent thousands of pounds putting 50 extra Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) on the streets, and also works closely with officers in areas such as trading standards and envirocrime.

He continued: "Obviously, this problem could present itself in Ealing as well, and so we want to know whether officers from Ealing would be investigating.
"There is a conflict of interests here, so perhaps it would be better if it was looked at by people from another borough who are independent."

He said the group would be contacting Councillor Phil Taylor, who is in charge of parking, to lay down its position before pursuing the case any further.
Cllr Taylor said the threat would not change the council's stance on the issue.
He told the Ealing Times: "We have to draw the line somewhere, and if we kept going back over history the council would never be able to move forward in anything it does.
"We still believe those junctions were legal, but the DfT weren't happy with them so we took them up."
Anyone interested in joining the campaign for a refund can send an email to: ealing@motoristslegalchallenge.co.uk

What do you think of Ealing Council's position? You can post a comment below or contact Councillor Taylor on his blog here

Tom Conti leads for the Motorists Legal Challenge Fund

Screen star Tom takes on role as parking fine fighter
By Bob Smyth
Sunday Post

MOVIE star Tom Conti is leading the charge to raise a fighting fund for a court challenge to parking tickets.

The Scottish actor is a patron of the newly formed Motorists Legal Challenge Fund. Campaigners lodged a claim at the High Court in London at the end of last month seeking permission to apply for a judicial review that could force councils to scrap parking tickets worth millions of pounds.

Tom (66) has become involved because he’s a founder of the Motorists Action Group in London, where he is a long-term resident.He has put some of his own cash into the fund, which is backing the challenge to fines issued by councils across the UK. They include six local authorities in Scotland — Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth & Kinross, Dundee, Aberdeen and South Lanarkshire.

Incident

The Paisley-born actor, who starred in the film Shirley Valentine and TV series Donovan, became a campaigner after he suffered “an unpleasant incident with some bailiffs” over a ticket and because he thinks the treatment of motorists is extremely unjust.

He said, “I just hate unfairness in government and there’s a vast amount being perpetrated against anybody with a vehicle — and that’s an awful lot of people. “The local authorities are supposed to be there to help the people rather than harass them, but at the moment people are being harassed.”

He doesn’t consider himself a political person but admits his high profile can help the cause.

“Politics and the whole right-wing, left-wing thing is nonsense. There’s only common sense really and an understanding of what human beings are — and they do not want to be dictated to,” he said.

The case against the councils is being spearheaded by Sunderland campaigner Neil Herron, who runs the Parking Appeals website.Neil (45) has remortgaged his £200,000 home to raise £60,000 for the fight and says Tom Conti’s backing is vital.He said, “Tom has dipped into his own pocket to help and he is a very active supporter.

Well-known

“We are speaking to another well-known TV personality who may agree to become a patron alongside Tom.”

Neil claims that many parking tickets are invalid because of flaws in the regulations that cover Controlled Parking Zones. CPZs were designed to cut down on parking sign clutter by having a notice at an entry point that applies restrictions to several streets.

Neil argues the legislation that created CPZs states that every road must be marked with single or double yellow lines or with parking spaces. He claims a strict interpretation of the wording means any CPZ that contains other markings, such as zig-zags, bus lanes, pelican or zebra crossings, is unlawful and parking tickets issued there are invalid.

He said, “Ultimately, we hope to force councils to cancel unpaid CPZ tickets and suspend enforcement within the zones until they’re legal. “We’ll have to mount a separate challenge to get councils to refund fines that have already been paid so we’re trying to raise £1 million to pursue that and other cases.”

A spokeswoman for Sunderland City Council, which is contesting the action on behalf of all local authorities, said, “It would not be appropriate to comment at this stage.”.