Newcastle Journal, The Letters Editor

Dear Sir / Madam,

I caught a small piece in the Journal (24.08.05)...Blyth Valley Council are going to start fining people £75 for leaving their bins in the streets.

Perhaps another 'partnership' such as Sunderland City Council's with NCP, we may see the creation of Bin Wardens loitering around street corners ready to issue fines to 'law breakers.'

A feature of this "new politics" which is becoming endemic throughout all sectors of administrative bureaucracy is the brushing aside of annoying legal details in the pursuit of increasing revenue.

Most people do not have the time or the will to challenge the administrative 'Goliath' and the reluctant capitulation breeds anger and resentment.

Why let the law and the people's fundamental rights get in the way?

However, more and more people are starting to say,"Wait a minute, do you actually have the legal authority to do what you are doing?"

The Metric Martyr's Judgment handed down in 2002 stated that certain Acts of Parliament, including the Bill of Rights, are constitutional and can only be repealed with express words.

The legislation upon which Blyth Valley Council are reliant will not have repealed that act. Therefore, "all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures before conviction are illegal and void." In laymans terms, conviction means before a court, not a council official. Therefore, no court, no fine.

This "arrogance of office" is out of control and rapidly losing the respect of the law abiding public who bear the cost. It appears as though government, local and national, is no longer there to serve but to rule, and increasingly in a draconian and financially punitive fashion.

However, there is other legislation in place, and Blyth Valley council should be reminded that if they wish to pursue alleged offenders they should do so through the courts in a proper and orderly manner.

Section 137 of the Highways Act, 1980, states," a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding £50." Trouble is that Blyth Council know that their binmen would be in trouble and be 'an accessory to the fact,' as it is they who left the bins in the street in the first place!

Yours faithfully,

Neil Herron
12 Frederick Street
Sunderland
SR1 1NA.
0191 565 7143

National Parking Adjudication Service...on the record

At 5.23pm Tuesday 23rd August 2005 I received a call from Andrew Barfoot, Tribunal Manager for the National Parking Adjudication Service in response to a telephone call I made to him the previous day at his office on 0161 242 527.

I had discussed the case in Sunderland and had offered to meet with him and any NPAS representatives to give them an overview of the Sunderland situation and the very serious matters that were being raised.
He informed me that his boss was Caroline Shepherd, and he would call me back the following day.

The call that came in at 5.23pm today lasted around 11 minutes.
The conversation was amicable and covered a number of areas, the contents of which will be uncovered in due course. It ended with me thanking him for his courtesy in returning my call, unlike the Department for Transport and Secretary of State who appeared to be 'battening down the hatches and heading for the bunker.' The call ended.

I picked up the telephone to make another call.
It was still connected.
I was then privy to a converastion between the identifiable Andrew Barfoot and an unidentified female.
The conversation lasted approximately five minutes, the majority of which is clear, especially the voice of Andrew Barfoot.
The line then went dead.

Pressing 1471 revealed the telephone number...a mobile number 07771 *** ****. Quite why a mobile was being used and not the office telephone for a call to myself may be revealed in due course. Draw your own conclusions.

Obviously by what had been said, Andrew Barfoot, who confirmed his location as not in the office but now in the lift with a colleague, had not realised that everything which had been said had come straight through to this office.
I asked for the name of his boss.
She was in the lift with him. She was the female voice.
There was a silence of nearly a minute.

Caroline Shepherd came on the telephone.

Caroline Shepherd confirmed her name and when asked confirmed that she is answerable to the 'Joint Committee.' She gave her position as the Service Director at the National Parking Adjudicator
The address was given as Barlow House, Minchull Street, Manchester M1 3DZ.

She gave reassurances that my case would be dealt with fairly and I could appeal following the necessary due process. Her diction is clear and she is very well spoken.
I was informed that my cases will be dealt with by an 'independent' solicitor.
I informed her that I had heard all the conversation between herself and Andrew Barfoot...because he had left his mobile telephone on.

I repeated Andrew Barfoot's opening statement to her.

I stated that I had a full record of everything that was said.
(It will be in the hands of solicitors pending further action hence the reason it is not posted here in case it is prejudicial to proceedings).

At this point she offered her sincerest apologies and gave a solemn undertaking that what was said would not be prejudicial to any appeal that I brought before NPAS. Obviously this was a professional matter and they would undertake the necessary retraining...at this point I interject and state that I will require a full written apology and the matter bringing to the attention of the Joint Committee.
She offered to discuss matters relating to 'concerns' but I said that I now wished the matter to be dealt with in writing.
The recorded delivery letter before action will be in the post tomorrow.

What was said by Andrew Barfoot, Tribunal Manager for the National Parking Adjudication Service leaves me in no doubt that they are not independent.

Yellow peril fines fiasco

Mar 17 2005
By Simon Armstrong, The Evening Chronicle

Drivers fined for illegal parking could get a refund because of a loophole.

James Neffendorf was slapped with a ticket for parking on a single yellow line in the centre of Newcastle.

He was convinced the £30 ticket was wrong because there were no restricted parking signs.

And he single-handedly took his campaign to court where he triumphed after a 15-month fight.

Now police chiefs have admitted there are questions over the signs' "legality", potentially costing the authorities thousands of pounds waiving parking fines.

The 52-year-old was ordered to pay £30 after leaving his Volvo Estate on a single yellow line while he went to watch a Newcastle United Sunday game.

The married dad-of-two had left his vehicle below the Central Library, just off John Dobson Street, in December 2003. He initially lost his case after appearing at Newcastle's magistrates court in October and was also ordered to pay £70 costs.

But, determined he was in the right, he took his fight to the city's Moot Hall and won after legal eagles accepted he should not have been booked because there were no signs outlining any parking restrictions - effectively rendering the yellow line meaningless.

The judge overturned the ticket after hearing officials had failed to follow section 64 of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, and the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002, by not displaying any notification of restrictions.

James, of Darras Hall, Ponteland, said: "I knew there was a single yellow line there but because there was no sign I was convinced it was not a restricted area. I couldn't believe it when I got a ticket.

"I contacted both the police and the council about the law but neither seemed sure as to how things stood. I took the unusual step of getting in touch with the Crown Prosecution Service and they told me which regulation I needed to study.

"Effectively, every line needs a sign because without them they're meaningless.

"I was stunned when I lost at the Magistrates Court and had a real feeling an injustice had been done. The whole thing began eating me up and I was unwilling to let it rest.

"I would say anyone who has been booked for parking on a single yellow line in the city should challenge it because I think they are in the right."

During his appearance at the Magistrates Court last October, a council parking official provided a statement saying there were several signs located on the approach to the city centre warning motorists they are entering a "metre zone" with restrictions applying.

However, James, who works as a managing director of a computer firm, provided photographs to show they weren't in place.

Insp David Rickaby, of Newcastle Area Command, said: "We are aware of this case and there are a number of issues we are looking into at the moment.

"Although we are the enforcement agency for yellow lines, there are questions with the legality of the signing which we are looking into."

Peter Wightman, highways services manager, for Newcastle City Council said the authority - who put up the signs - is confident it is right, despite the court decision.

He said: "The city centre is covered by a metre zone and highway law states additional signs are not required to uphold restrictions unless they are different to the gateway signs to the zone."

The Department for Transport was unable to comment on individual cases and a spokesman would only say: "The Highway Code instructs drivers to consult nearby signs for guidance on time restrictions."

The Letters Editor
Dear Sir,
I would like to first make it clear that by exposing, along with others, the fact that Sunderland Council have been unlawfully issuing parking tickets I am not advocating irresponsible or illegal parking.
Taxi ranks should not be obstructed nor should people blatantly disregard the needs of other road users and pedestrians.
But what we are now witnessing here in Sunderland is a draconian enforcement regime to generate massive profits for a private company, NCP.The city's businesses and taxis are being strangled and harassed and the regime is also driving away potential shoppers. Sunderland Echo has covered many stories of people, including funeral cars and disabled people that have been ticketed by over zealous wardens.
These 'decriminalised' enforcement regimes are springing up across the country and are nothing more than a back door tax (now over �1bn annually) on the motorist. You can appeal to an 'independent' adjudicator...funded by the local authorities in the scheme. It is not even the driver who is pursued, it is the registered keeper...someone who may not have even committed the alleged offence. Next door, in Newcastle, they operate a 'criminalised' regime where the driver is responsible and can challenge through the courts. As a casual motorist you would be unaware of the two wholly different schemes until you got a ticket.
The examination of Sunderland Council's parking regime stemmed from the ruling in the Metric Martyrs case which said that certain acts of Parliament - including the Bill of Rights - had primacy over other legislation, unless measures were specifically repealed. The Bill of Rights says that citizens cannot be fined without being convicted - and the regime the Council is operating under the 1991 Road Traffic Act offers no option to go to court.
Quite simply, if the Metric Martyr's judgment was correct then the RTA falls and the council could not levy fines.Or perhaps the men were wrongly convicted.
But further investigation uncovered an even bigger bombshell. Sunderland Council had not put in place the correct traffic orders to be operating the regime that they had in place. They have been forced to admit unlawfully issuing 700 tickets. This appears to be the tip of the iceberg. More serious allegations may follow.
Sunderland Council is operating a Controlled Parking Zone for the city centre. The Department for Transport have confirmed that a CPZ Order is required. Like the Taxi Rank Orders, none exists.
The late Steven Thoburn was one of only four people ever prosecuted across the country under the Metrication regulations. Sunderland Council at the time said, "The law is the law and must be enforced."
Let's hope that the elected members are fully aware of their responsibilities. After all, they were aware in 2003 that they were acting unlawfully and NEVER volunteered the money back to those that had been targeted...their hand had to be forced.
Is this the way to run a city?
Anyone who has had a ticket and needing advice can call on 0845 147 2006.
Yours faithfully,
Neil Herron
12 Frederick Street
Sunderland
SR1 1NA
0191 565 7143
07776202045
 

Parking Fines Gaffe

Tickets issued after error discovered
By Ross Smith
(0191) 201 6286 ross.smith@ncjmedia.co.uk

Traffic wardens in Sunderland have handed out 78 tickets to people parking in taxi ranks after it was discovered they have no power to do so, the council confirmed yesterday.

Officers at Sunderland Council failed to put an order in place to allow parking attendants to issue fines for the offence.

They now face having to repay 700 fines given before the error was discovered in November 2003, at a cost to the authority of £21,000.

And yesterday, the authority admitted 78 tickets have been given out since then-saying it was a “mistake” by its contractors NCP.

A council spokeswoman said yesterday: “They have been issued in error by NCP. We instructed NCP to stop issuing penalty charge notices for vehicles parked in taxi ranks.”

The council had previously insisted no tickets were issued by wardens after November 2003.

She said the 78 motorists would be entitled to the same refund as those who were fined before the error was spotted. She said the council was still “looking into” why no refunds were offered before The Journal raised the issue last week- 21 months after the council realised the tickets were invalid.

Political campaigner Neil Herron uncovered the error.

NCP spokesman Tim Cowen said: “Of course we are disappointed that we have issued over 70 tickets with an incorrect code in the past two years, but the vast majority were issued by one parking attendant whose performance was poor and has now left the company. A handful were issued by new starters who has failed to take on board the briefing about taxi ranks and we have now updated our processes to ensure that all new starters fully understand the situation regarding taxi ranks.”

Association of British Drivers agrees with Herron. CPZ Order is required.

It appears as though the Sunderland ship is heading for the rocks. The following e-mail has been received from the Association of British Drivers:

Your message to the ABD's enquiry email address has been forwarded to the rest of the committee. As the ABD's traffic management specialist (with over 30 years' local authority service in highway and traffic engineering), it is probably most appropriate that I reply.

We have certainly been following the Sunderland case with interest. Having had a look through your website, I was not previously aware of the issue with taxi ranks, only the CPZ issue. As far as the latter is concerned, there is no doubt that a traffic regulation order is necessary to set one up. The purpose of a CPZ is to have a single, principal waiting restriction throughout the area, which can be signed at all the entry points, so that there is no need for individual signing of yellow lines. Only where a waiting restriction differed from the standard one for the CPZ would it need to be signed. This reduces the cost of installing and maintaining signs, as well as reducing unsightly sign clutter. This relaxation of the signing requirements is only legal if a TRO exists for the CPZ.

If a CPZ order has not been made but the individual waiting restrictions within it are covered by their own TROs, those TROs would still apply but would not be enforceable unless individual signing was in place. (In the case of double yellow lines, which for the last five years or so have only been permissible where a 24/7 restriction applies, no signs are required, so they may be enforceable anyway.)

To repeat again, and to keep it simple, Sunderland Council is operating a Controlled Parking Zone. There is no CPZ Order.

If they are reliant on previous orders they require the necessary individual signage for each of those orders. That individual signage is not in place.

When they changed the regime from criminalised to decriminalised the Secretary of State required that all the necessary Traffic Orders and signage were correct in order to create the Special Parking Area Order which would allow the initiation of the decriminalised regime.

It seems some one has been misinformed somewhere.

Is it that obvious? Where is the money?

Public Inspection of the Statement of Accounts 2004/2005

As you can see from the letter, the income from Penalty Charge Notices AFTER they became aware that they did not have lawful authority to be issuing them is £630.
There is an admission that 78 tickets were issued after November 2003.
There has been a separate admission that 38 of these were paid.
If we believe that everybody paid immediately at £30 per ticket that comes to £1140...only £630 has been admitted to being entered into the accounts.
Where is the rest?

Traffic wardens in 'Argos points for tickets' row

The Sunday Times - Britain
Will Iredale
April 10, 2005

ONE of the country’s biggest parking contractors is motivating its traffic wardens by offering gifts from Argos if they help to “increase revenue”.

A National Car Parks (NCP) document explaining the scheme says points to purchase Argos products can be given to staff for the “issued number of tickets per shift/day”. The scheme has been designed to reward traffic wardens who achieve agreed targets.

NCP denies the scheme is “points for tickets”, but says the Argos points are distributed for all-round performance. Some wardens are, however, anxious to give out as many tickets as possible in the hope of getting extra Argos points.

One warden who works in Islington, north London, said last week: “The more tickets you give, the more points you get. It goes to your Argos card.”

NCP is one of several contractors employed by local councils to issue tickets and works for 30 local authorities around the country. The “Argos Scheme” was introduced by NCP last year in many of the areas where it operates.

A “launch briefing” document obtained under Freedom of Information laws states: “The proposed incentive scheme is designed to motivate employees by rewarding those who make a difference by achieving particular targets or agreed standards.

“Examples of the type of activity points will be awarded for (include) . . . issued number of tickets per shift/day.”

A second document explaining the Argos scheme and sent to all NCP employees states: “Where you demonstrate your excellence at work, contribute to increased revenue or cost savings, or have gone the extra distance, you will be rewarded.”

Under the scheme, one point is the equivalent of £1. Managers are given a certain number of points per month which they can award to their staff as they wish, who then use their points to shop in Argos.

Some wardens have understandably been anxious to give out extra tickets in the hope of getting more Argos points. A spokesman for NCP said last week the scheme was never meant to encourage wardens to give out more tickets, but to reward wardens for all aspects of their performances, including good timekeeping, appearance and maintaining a good relationship with the public.

He said the proposal to give out points for tickets per shift was never followed by managers. Tim Cowen, a spokesman for NCP, said: “It is about rewarding people for working well, and has never been and never will be to do with the number of tickets issued. I can categorically say that does not happen.”

Cowen said “increased revenue” referred to giving more accurate tickets, and said any traffic warden who believed they could get Argos points for tickets issued was wrong.

NCP has been criticised in the past for bonus-related schemes. Two years ago it promised a Vauxhall Corsa worth £12,000 to the warden who imposed the most fines in Westminster, London. Other prizes in the “Champions League” scheme included a £1,500 holiday and a wide-screen television worth £800.

The incentives helped create a ticket blitz. Papers released under the Freedom of Information act to The Sunday Times reveal that one traffic warden based in Westminster issued 1,444 tickets in October 2003 — an average of over 60 a day.

The Champions League scheme was, however, shelved last summer after NCP became concerned it would be unpopular with motorists.

They're paid to book you!

Milton Keynes Today
richard.cooper@mkcitizen.co.uk

PARKING attendants in Milton Keynes ARE rewarded for issuing the most penalty notices.

Despite repeated denials since the introduction of widespread pay parking in the city, the Tuesday Citizen can reveal an incentive scheme introduced by Vinci Park, Milton Keynes Council's parking contractor.

According to documents seen by the Citizen, a parking attendant is awarded one point for every ticket he or she issues.

In addition, they will receive 10 points for being in work on time every day; 100 points for having no errors issuing penalties and 100 points for no days off sick a month.Points are also deducted for lateness, unauthorised leave and penalty notice errors.

It is understood the top attendant each month receives a £20 bonus.A chart also seen by the Citizen shows the top attendant, apparently in one week, notched up 299 points.

Another document shows a graph with Vinci Park's daily targets and the total number of parking tickets issued – against "the expected level of performance".

Last year more than 46,000 penalty notices were issued.

City transport boss Cllr Graham Mabbutt said the suggestion of 'league tables' was news to him.

"It is not the council policy to have incentives for parking tickets and the council does not have a target for Vinci to reach in terms of the number of tickets issued."

Edmund King of motorists' lobby group The RAC Foundation said: "Financial incentives actually lead to more abuse of the system with more tickets issued incorrectly."Our general view is that parking regulation should be based on general compliance and not on the number of tickets. The number of tickets issued is not an indication the parking regime is working well."

He added the system puts pressure on the attendants to issue more tickets and can lead to more confrontation with motorists.

However, he added: "I would not like to comment on their internal mechanism for operating."

A spokesman for Vinci Park said the scheme is being trialled in Milton Keynes from this month and aims to reward employees "for their work in the community and the quality of their work".

He added: "A parking attendant is not just there to issue parking tickets and we have recognised this by introducing a system based on aspects such as punctuality and low absenteeism, which will benefit the public through providing a better service in Milton Keynes."

Sunderland Council and NCP now admit to 78 offences

It started just a week ago when on Saturday 13th August the Newcastle Journal ran the story that we had been building up for a while...that Sunderland Council's parking regime was unlawful.
They were operating a Controlled Parking Zone for the city centre. We had argued that to do so they needed a traffic order.
Sunderland said they didn't.
The Department for Transport confirmed that they did.

As the story broke the press and media went into feeding frenzy with TV, radio and all the press covering the story.

Then we received a telephone call...from a former Parking Attendant. They added more information...that Sunderland Council had had a meeting with NCP regarding the fact that there were no traffic orders in place for the city's taxi ranks. This meant that issued tickets were unlawful, but rather than admitting this, they covered it up. They knew in October 2003.

Further problems now arise because they did immediately not contact the motorists to refund this money. They only began doing this once we had exposed it in the press, but it begs the question, "Why the cover up?"
An audit trail is now being conducted into where this money went, but the problem is that the Council's accounts were signed off for 2003-4 with officials knowing full well that it would contain items of unlawful income.

Sunderland Council were forced into making a humiliating admission. However, one must not be confused by the smokescreen. The Taxi Rank Orders are only a part of the whole Special Parking Area...which created the 'decriminalised' operation.
The Controlled Parking Zone is only a part...BUT...to get the approval from the Secretary of State's approval for the whole 'decriminalised' regime, all the necessary orders and signs needed to be in place. This is clearly not the case.

Late on Friday Sunderland Council were forced to admit that they continued to issue tickets (Code 045) on the City's taxi ranks after they became aware.

The following questions have to be asked:

Why, if Parking Services and NCP were aware they were acting unlawfully, were these code 045 'offences' not immediately refunded? We have received confirmation today that they are aware of 78 (of which 38 have been paid). Could this be regarded as attempting to obtain, and obtaining monies by deception?

Who was responsible for covering up the fact that 700+ tickets had been unlawfully issued?

Why weren't all NCP Parking Attendants given explicit instructions not to issue further tickets?

Why have no steps been taken to put in place the correct Traffic Orders for the Taxi Ranks since November 2003? Could it be that this would highlight everyone to the fact that the decriminalised regime could be classed as unlawful if the Secretary of State has been misled?

Lots of questions. Not many answers forthcoming.

Sunderland may have to repay £2m in parking penalties

Christopher Booker's Notebook
Sunday Telegraph
21st August 2005

Sunderland may have to repay £2m in parking penalties
Sunderland city council, running the largest city in the North-East, was deeply embarrasssed last week, having been forced to admit that it must pay back to motorists thousands of pounds which it had extracted from them in illegal parking fines. Furthermore, evidence given by the Department for Transport indicated that Sunderland's entire city centre parking regime, from which it has raised £2 million in penalties, may also be illegal.

This is the latest victory for Neil Herron, who was roused to become a tireless grass-roots campaigner when, in July 2000, Sunderland officials seized a set of non-metric scales from the market stall run by his friend Steve Thoburn. Following the appeal court's judgment in the "Metric Martyrs'' case, which ruled that "constitutional statutes" such as the European Communities Act and the Bill of Rights can only be overridden when Parliament explicitly votes to do so, Mr Herron's attention was drawn to the legality of automatic penalties, such as parking fines.

These seemed to contradict the Bill of Rights, which lays down that no one may be fined except by judgment of a court. Enquiring further, Mr Herron discovered that Sunderland had not obtained the necessary statutory order to set up its "decriminalised" Controlled Parking Zone. This suggested that the 61,000 fines imposed since 2003, totalling some £2 million, might also have been illegal.

The council insists that such an order was not necessary. But the Department for Transport has confirmed to the Newcastle Journal that it is. The council admits that it realised in November 2003 that 738 fines imposed for parking on the city's 14 taxi ranks were illegal, and has now promised to reimburse those fined up to that time, to the tune of £21,000. But Sunderland will only admit to having imposed a further 38 fines on taxi ranks since then (though other, unofficial sources maintain that the true figure is much higher).

Mr Herron says: "My enquiries suggest this is only the tip of an iceberg. If Sunderland has not complied with the proper procedures for setting up its decriminalised parking zone, it could theoretically have to hand back £2 million. And it seems that many other councils across the country have similarly failed to comply."

Earlier this month MPs on the Commons Transport Committee announced that they will be looking into the "legitimacy" of parking schemes this autumn.

A third of councils now operate decriminalised parking schemes, and the total sum raised from parking fines in 2004 was £1 billion. Mr Herron plans to give evidence to the committee, and suggests that anyone wanting to know more should contact him via metricmartyrs@btconnect.com. Sunderland council may be regretting that day, five years ago, when they seized Mr Thoburn's scales.

Cover up alleged over parking fines

Cover up alleged over parking fines

By Julie Wilson, Sunderland Echo
Julie.Wilson@northeast-press.co.uk

Council bosses knew nothing about £21,000 parking fines blunder almost two years before they offered to repay the cash, it has been revealed.

About 700 tickets handed to motorists who parked in Sunderland taxi ranks will be overturned after the city council admitted its traffic wardens had no power to issue them.

The council this week offered to refund the fine, totalling £21,000 to motorists who received a £30 ticket for parking at a rank since February 2003.

It has now emerged that the council discovered the mistake nearly two years ago.

The council has admitted that it uncovered the error in November 2003, but says it has only just found out that the cash had not been repaid and is looking into the issue.

The council says no tickets for the offence have been handed out by parking attendants since the error was discovered.

The parking fines blunder came to light after an investigation by political campaigner and former "Metric Martyr" Neil Herron, who said the correct legal order to enforce parking restrictions in taxi ranks had not been put in place.

Mr Herron, 42 of The Westlands, Barnes, in Sunderland, said it appeared the council had been "covering this up for nearly two years."

He added: "I think their now needs to be a full, thorough investigation by an independent outside body. I believe this is the tip of a very large iceberg."

Conservative group leader Coun Peter Wood said: "It's appalling. I can't think of any legitimate excuse, quite frankly.

"I will speak to the chairman of the environment review committee, Coun David Tate, and ask that the matter appears on the next agenda."

The Echo revealed the parking ticket blunder earlier this week.

A council spokeswoman said: "A number of penalty charge notices were issued incorrectly to motorists who were illegally parked in taxi ranks.

"Although parking in taxi ranks is illegal, it is not currently an offence for which a fixed penalty is applicable under the decriminalised parking enforcement system.

"As a result we will be taking steps to identify and reimburse the motorists concerned.

"We have identified that about 700 penalty charge notices were paid after being issued by parking attendants acting in good faith against drivers who were breaking the law and causing inconvenience to taxi drivers and the public by parking in clearly designated taxi ranks."

Council Accused of rank cover-up

Council Accused of rank cover-up

Error came to light 21 months ago

By Ross Smith, (0191) 201-6286
ross.smith@ncjmedia.co.uk

Council bosses were accused of a cover up last night after it was revealed that they knew £21,000 had been collected from invalid parking tickets nearly two years ago.

Traffic wardens had been handing fines to drivers parked on taxi ranks in Sunderland, but had no power to do so - and the error was discovered in November 2003, the council has admitted.

But since then, the correct orders have not been put in place.

And a decision to repay the 700 fines handed out before then was only made public this week after The Journal made enquiries about the anomaly.

When asked why the offers of repayment had only been made 21months later, when news of the error appeared in The Journal a council spokeswoman said: "It's something that we're looking into."

Political campaigner Neil Herron, whose investigations uncovered the loophole, said: " It appears as though they've been covering this up for nearly two years.

"If they're supposed to be transparent and honest, why the obfuscation and the wriggling?
"I think there now needs to be a full, thorough investigation by an independent outside body.

"They haven't volunteered this money back - it had to be forced out of them.

"I believe this is the tip of a very large iceberg.

Conservative group leader on the council Peter Wood said: "It's appalling. I can't think of any legitimate excuse, quite frankly.

"I will speak to the chairman of the environment review committee, Coun David Tate, and ask that the matter appears on the next agenda of that committee.

"Frankly, the best thing would be for the chairman himself to put it on the agenda and summon [director of development and regeneration] Phil Barrett and any appropriate colleagues to give a full explanation in a sufficiently contrite manner."

The council says traffic wardens have issued no tickets for the offence since the error was discovered.
Officers responsible for taxi licensing, as well as police, do have the power to hand out fines.

Mr Barrett said: "Work is currently in hand to introduce an order which would enable ranks to be enforced using the decriminalised parking scheme.

"However; a statutory and legal process means this will take some time."

Another Sunderland Council/NCP Clanger

Here are two photos of an NCP Car Park in Sunderland.

Here is a Press Release Report Detailing a York City Council Clanger

MILES BETTER SAY PROTESTERS AS COUNCIL SCRAP METRIC SIGNS

By Alistair Keely, PA

Anti-metric protesters claimed another victory in their campaign today after a council was forced to modify 30 rights of way signs.

The York City Council signs were erected with distances in kilometres instead of miles.

Council chiefs today admitted they got it wrong.

A spokeswoman said: ``We can confirm that 30 new signs were erected with distances given in metric measures.

"This was a genuine error and as soon as it was brought to our attention,we took measures to amend it.

"Giving information on a footpath sign such as the distance and destinationis discretionary and we thought the public would appreciate this extra detail.

"The Ordnance Survey maps that we use to measure the footpaths are metric and the walk packs that we sell describe walks in kilometres so it made sense to the officer who ordered the signs to give corresponding information.''

The council said it would not replace all the signs, but has ordered plastic discs displaying the imperial distances and these would be placed over the metric numbers over the next few weeks at a cost of £229.

Campaigners argue that it is illegal to erect any highway signs with metric measurements, including those on public rights of way, under section 131 of the 1980 Highway Act.

Peter Rogers, a supporter of Active Resistance to Metrication, welcomed the council's decision.

"Each time we are successful, it is a small but significant step towards eradicating them from our country.

"The imperial weights and measures of this country are part of our traditions and part of our culture.

"The attempts to impose metric signs is one by stealth and deception and has been going on for many years.''

Sunderland Council press release

Sunderland Council press release
17th August 2005

STATEMENT RE PARKING TICKETS ISSUED AT TAXI RANKS

A Number of penalty charge notices were issued incorrectly to motorists who were illegally parked in taxi ranks and as a result we will be taking steps to identify and reimburse the motorists concerned.

We have identified that about 700 penalty charge notices were paid after being issued by parking attendants acting in good faith against drivers who were breaking the law and causing inconvenience to taxi drivers and the public by parking in clearly designated taxi ranks.

Although parking in taxi ranks is illegal, it is not currently an offence for which a fixed penalty is applicable under the decriminalised parking enforcement system. Enforcement action is taken by the police or Council officers responsible for taxi licensing.

We are endeavouring to contact and refund those drivers who paid a penalty charge notice that was erroneously issued. Anyone who has received a parking ticket while parked in a taxi rank in Sunderland and believes they are entitled to a refund should contact Parking Services on 0191 553 1521.

Said Director of Development and Regeneration, Phil Barrett: “Although the issue of these tickets was an error and is regrettable, it affected only a very small proportion of the 61,000 plus tickets issued since the decriminalised parking system came into force in February 2003. It is an anomaly relating to the implementation of just one aspect of the city’s parking system. The decriminalised parking system itself remains legally robust and valid, ensuring the safe and efficient moving and parking of vehicles throughout the city for the benefit of public and businesses alike.”

Sunderland’s taxi ranks are located at:
Sunderland Railway Station (opposite entrance)
Rear Fawcett Street (west side)
Rear Fawcett Street (east side)
Park Lane
Union Street
Southwick Green
Whitburn, Seaburn
High Street West (adj to Chambers)
Crowtree Road
Rear Fawcett Street (east side)
Athenauem Street
Union Street
High Street West (adj Londonderry)Park Lane (fronting Chase)

A Fine Mess

A Fine Mess
Sunderland Echo,By Simon Marks, simon.marks@northeast-press.co.uk

Hundreds of motorists will have their parking fines overturned after blundering council workers wrongly dished out penalties totalling £21,000.

Sunderland council today admitted it had no authority to hand out 700 tickets to drivers who had parked in taxi ranks across the city.

They are now calling on any of the motorists who paid a £30 fine for parking at a rank since February 2003 to come forward for a refund.

The admission comes less than a week after political campaigner and former 'Metric Martyr' Neil Herron claimed the entire parking-warden system in Sunderland is illegal because specific legal orders have not been made.

But council bosses have dismissed that claim, saying its whole parking system remains 'legally robust and valid', although it confessed it made an error with the taxi-rank enforcement.

The latest blunder has come to light after more investigations by Mr Herron, 42, of The Westlands, Barnes, who said the correct legal order to enforce parking restrictions in the taxi ranks, had not been put in place.

A Spokeswoman for the council said: "A number of penalty charge notices were issued incorrectly to motorists who were illegally parked in taxi ranks.

"Although parking in taxi ranks is illegal, it is not currently an offence for which a fixed penalty is applicable under the decriminalised parking enforcement system.

"As a result we will be taking steps to identify and reimburse the motorists concerned.

"We have identified that about 700 penalty charge notices were paid after being issued by parking attendants acting in good faith against drivers who were breaking the law and causing inconvenience to taxi drivers and the public by parking in clearly designated taxi ranks."

Phil Barrett, director of development and regeneration, the department responsible for enforcing parking restrictions, said: "Although the issue of these tickets was an error and is regrettable, it affected only a very small proportion of the 61,000 plus tickets issued since the decriminalised parking system came into force in February 2003.

"It is an anomaly relating to the implementation of just one aspect of the city's parking system.

"The decriminalised parking system itself remains legally robust and valid, ensuring the safe and efficient moving and parking of vehicles throughout the city for the benefit of public and businesses alike."

Mr Herron Said: "The question has to be asked why motorists should be having to beg for their money back when the council has acted unlawfully.

"They should've been refunded straight away. This is the tip of a large iceberg and heads will have to roll."

Coun Peter Wood, leader of the Conservative group on the council, said: "Proper parking arrangements are very important to keep traffic running smoothly.

"When the wheel comes off like this you really begin to loose faith in the people who are meant to be administering these schemes."

Anybody who thinks they may have been charged wrongly should contact the council, tel: 553 1521

House of Cards ready to fall?

Sunderland City Council are now under serious pressure. The Newcastle Journal's reporters were working late last night pulling the story together...front page to follow shortly. Sunderland Echo runs front page as well.

Sunderland Council have been forced to admit that they do not have any traffic orders in place for the taxi ranks in the city...and also admit that they will have to pay back the money to the motorists.
Only 700 though.
Only 21,000 though.
Well, that is just the start of their problems and here is why.
They are aware that they accrued this money unlawfully...and if it is in their accounts then the accounts cannot be signed off.
...also, they have misled the Secretary of State by telling him that all the traffic orders were correct and in place in order to initiate the Special Parking Area Order which created the decriminalised regime.
I am reliably informed that Sunderland Council are not actively looking to refund the money...in fact one of the officers said "How do you expect us to find the person who sent us a cheque?"
Quite simple.
Cross reference the ticket with the registered keeper details! That is what they do when they send the tickets out.
What a mess!

Drivers' Parking Ticket Victory

Drivers' Parking Ticket Victory
By Ross Smith (0191)201-6286 ross.smith@ncjmedia.co.uk

A Blundering North council is being forced to refund £21,000 in parking fines after admitting it failed to put proper rules in place.

Sunderland Council last night confessed legal orders necessary to fine people for parking in taxi ranks had not been correctly implemented.

That means 700 parking tickets handed out for the offence since 2003 are invalid.

The council is now asking anyone who has paid a £30 fine for parking on a taxi rank to get in touch for a refund.

The news comes days after The Journal revealed claims that all parking tickets within Sunderland City Centre could be invalid due to the absence of proper legal orders.

The council insists that is not the case but has admitted the error relating to taxi ranks.

Director of development and regeneration Phil Barrett said: "Although the issue of these tickets was an error and is regrettable, it affected only a very small proportion of the 61,000 plus tickets issued since the decriminalised parking system came into force in February 2003.

"It is an anomaly relating to the implementation of just one aspect of the city's parking system.

"The decriminalised parking system itself remains legally robust and valid, ensuring the safe and efficient moving and parking of vehicles throughout the city for the benefit of public and businesses alike."

The council is now taking steps to correct the error. It said that parking on the city's 14 taxi ranks is illegal - but that traffic wardens currently have no power to hand out fixed penalties.

Last night, political campaigner Neil Herron, who raised the claims about the absence of parking orders, said: "I think this is the tip of a very large iceberg which is about to be uncovered."

Conservative group leader on the council Peter Wood said: "Proper parking arrangements are clearly important in the city to keep traffic running smoothly.

"When the wheel comes off like this, then really you begin to lose faith in the people who are meant to be administering these schemes."

Anyone who thinks they are entitled to a refund should call (0191) 553-1521.

Advice on setting up Traffic Regulation Orders

Perhaps Sunderland Council should visit Bath and North East Somerset's website and find what is required to create the correct, and legal, parking regimes.

Driven out by traffic wardens

Driven out by traffic wardens
Sunderland Echo
27th July 2005

AN angry shop owner says over-zealous traffic wardens have forced him to close his store after just one month.

Shoppers in Sunderland will have one less store to choose from when Beat The High Street shuts for good after its stock is sold off.Owner John Finn has put a big sign in the window of his furniture shop on High Street West, spelling out to customers and Sunderland Council – in no uncertain terms – his reasons for jacking in the business so soon after opening.The home-made sign reads: "Due to traffic wardens. Closing down. Goods less than cost. Nice one Sunderland.

"Mr Finn, from Hetton, told the Echo that customers and delivery drivers had been ticketed incessantly, without any leniency or common sense to allow for loading and unloading bulky goods at the store."The wardens are like breeding ants," he said. "When you get any deliveries they're straight out to the lorries issuing tickets."

Mr Finn said a female customer was left in tears last week after she was ticketed while a wardrobe she purchased was being brought from the shop's third floor, because he claimed the warden said there was no evidence of goods being loaded.

Mr Finn said he had had enough after watching wardens at work near the shop on Friday, and estimated they collected £2,000-worth of parking fines."They didn't give anybody any time to do anything. They just waited around the corner."He added: "They must be on commission to go to this extreme. "And they're absolutely over the moon when they give out a ticket. It's disgusting. "I told one that they were scaring people away from shopping in Sunderland – and they just laughed."

Mr Finn said his premises, which used to be a chippie, will stay empty and he will move to a retail park site."We've definitely finished here. And under no circumstances would I ever have a place in Sunderland city centre again."This is not about safety, it's purely a money-making scheme."

Traffic wardens are run by National Car Parks (NCP), on contract from the council. A council spokesman said: "Parking restrictions are in place in the interests of road safety and reduction of traffic congestion to make life easier and safer for pedestrians and road users alike, not to penalize business. "A well-managed road system contributes to the vitality of the city centre."He added: "Waiting restrictions are in place which allow loading and unloading for shops in High Street West, and there is also ample car parking spaces nearby for customers."

SINCE Sunderland traffic wardens were "privatised" in 2003 there has been a barrage of complaints from motorists, many highlighted in the Echo.They include amputee Harry Dixon, from Newbottle, who was given a ticket because his disabled badge "was on the wrong way round," according to parking chiefs.

A photographer, who had a "wedding party" sign in his car, got a ticket while he was filming nuptials at Sunderland Minster.

And Vision Bar, on Green Terrace, had its unique Smart car ticked three times while it was parked to be auctioned off for the Grace House Hospice Appeal.
27 July 2005

Sunderland Parking Regime About to Go Into Freefall

The telephone hasn't stopped all day. Businesses who have suffered from the Sunderland Council / NCP Draconian parking regime wanting information...AND disclosing further evidence of breaches and malpractice.

One call was from a Traffic Warden whistleblower. It was disclosed that a separate issue involved tickets issued on taxi ranks. Not only did Sunderland City Council not have a Controlled Parking Zone Order in place, but they did not, and still do not, have any Traffic Orders in place for any of the taxi ranks over the whole of Sunderland. They became aware of this in December of 2004...and 8,000 people had been ticketed since February 2003.
Not one person has been offered a refund.
Meetings were held between Sunderland City Council and NCP and the matter 'hushed up.' This does mean however, that the Council officials are fully aware that they have items of unlawful income in the City's accounts which now cannot be signed off by the District Auditor. The sum involved will be at least £240,000.
I am sure that there are going to be 8,000 seriously angry people...and that is before the whole house of cards falls!
Whispers have it that the gallows are being prepared.

Parking Tickets Could be Illegal

The following story made front page of Saturday's Newcastle Journal. The implications are enormous. Sunderland City Council have created a parking regime for the city centre without legislative authority. This means that NCP are enforcing a regime and issuing tickets unlawfully. The Council's accounts cannot be signed off if there are unlawful items of income, and the District Auditor will be forced to investigate.
Traders in the city whose businesses have been seriously affected by the Draconian enforcement regime may have a case for a class action, or could withold their business rates. This could be replicated across the country.
What we are witnessing with all of these de-criminalised regimes is the arrogance of office and a regime created simply to raise revenue...most of which goes as profit for private companies. Revenue is not reinvested in the towns and cities to create more, or upgrade parking facilities.
This is the beginning of the people fighting back.

PARKING TICKETS 'COULD BE ILLEGAL'

Campaigner says he has found a loophole

By Ross Smith

PARKING tickets issued in the North's biggest city could be illegal,
according to investigations by a prominent political campaigner.

Activist Neil Herron believes he has found a loophole which will invalidate
all fines in Sunderland city centre.

He is gambling more than £1,000 of his own money to prove his case, by
refusing to pay for 27 tickets dating back to March. It could mean that
parking tickets dating back as far as 2003 in the city are illegal.

Mr Herron came across the potential anomaly in the city's parking regime
while investigating the judgment against him in the Metric Martyrs case.

Sunderland Council has set up a Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ) around the
city centre. It means road signs are placed on the perimeter warning
motorists they are entering the zone, and explaining the waiting
restrictions within it.

But the council has never put in place a Controlled Parking Zone Order to
enact the zone - which Mr Herron believes renders it, and all parking
tickets within it, invalid.

The council insists that is not the case, and that other legal orders make
the zone effective.

A letter to Mr Herron from Sunderland City solicitor Bob Rayner said: "Your
premise that there should have been an order declaring a CPZ is incorrect."

But the Department for Transport last night appeared to contradict Mr
Rayner.

A spokeswoman told The Journal: "We wouldn't comment on an individual case.
Parking restrictions are a matter for local authorities.

"But the general policy is that to introduce a Controlled Parking Zone,
local authorities need a Controlled Parking Zone Order, as set out in the
Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984."

Mr Herron said: "I'm not going to pay the fines because I do believe
Sunderland Council haven't got the necessary traffic regulations in place
to implement its regime.

"If they're that confident of the ground they're on, then I invite them to
come after me.

"But I have 27 tickets and haven't heard from them yet."

A Sunderland Council spokesman said: "Waiting restrictions are introduced
with powers contained within the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984. A
restricted area is commonly known as a Controlled Parking Zone. This,
however, is an engineering, not legal term and describes an area in which
all roads are subject to waiting restrictions introduced by various traffic
regulation orders in the interests of road safety and reducing congestion."


'Martyr' who found a new cause
By Ross Smith

NEIL Herron began campaigning against car park tickets as a result of the
judgment in the so-called Metric Martyrs case, in which he and a group of
Sunderland traders were prosecuted for using imperial weights and measures.

The ruling said that certain acts of Parliament - including the 1689 Bill
of Rights -had primacy over other legislation, unless its measures were
specifically repealed.

The Bill of Rights says citizens cannot be fined without being convicted -
but parking fines administered by councils offer no option to go to court.

Mr Herron began collecting parking tickets in a bid to prove his case.

It was during the course of his investigations that Mr Herron found that a
specific CPZ Order was not in place in Sunderland.

The zone covers an area from Silksworth Road in the north-west of the city
centre, to Sans Street in the north-east, West Lawrence Street in the
south-east and the Park Lane interchange in the south-west.

Signs explaining to motorists that they are entering a CPZ and that waiting
is prohibited between 8am and 6pm on Mondays to Saturdays are displayed on
its perimeter.

The council says it has linked various localised parking regulations
through a consolidated order, made in 2003. But Mr Herron claims that,
without a specific order declaring a CPZ, individual signs must be placed
on each street where there are parking restrictions. Without them, fines
are not valid, he believes.

Ross Smith
Regional Affairs Correspondent
The Journal

Parking: Press Notice Houses of Parliament

Transport Committee

PRESS NOTICE

Finding a Space for Parking Policy

The Government’s transport strategy gives little priority to parking policy, yet most drivers have experienced difficulties finding a place to park at some point, and increasing numbers of local authorities have applied to the Secretary of State for powers to take over aspects of parking enforcement from the police.

About a third of local authorities in the UK have adopted decriminalized parking enforcement since the mid-1990s, and parking fines raised nearly £1 billion in 2004. Surpluses generated by parking fines can be kept by the local authority for transport related spending. More flexibility on how the surplus could be spent was introduced with the Transport Management Act 2004. Concerns have been raised over the standard of enforcement activity undertaken by some councils and contractors, in particular there have been suggestions that wheel clamping has been used inappropriately, and that the surpluses that can be raised through parking enforcement have become the main motivation for local authority parking control.

The former Transport Committee in its report on Traffic Law and Enforcement recommended that the Government issue guidance to local authorities about the civil enforcement of traffic contraventions. It advised that this guidance should ensure proportionality in enforcement and proper discretion in applying measures. As more local authorities adopt decriminalized parking enforcement there is a risk that public perception of parking may deteriorate if action is not taken to promote the legitimacy of parking control and transparency in the way orders are enforced.

In light of these developments, the Transport Committee has decided to inquire into the current effectiveness of parking provision and enforcement policy. In particular, the Committee wishes to examine:

• Are local authorities carrying out parking control reasonably, fairly and accountably? How is performance evaluated?

• What action would raise the standard of parking enforcement activity? Is Statutory Guidance needed to promote consistency?

• Is the appeals process fair and effective? How could it be improved?

• Is it appropriate that local authorities should keep the revenue generated from parking fines?
Is there any evidence that the opportunity to raise revenue through decriminalized parking enforcement has inappropriately influenced authorities’ parking policy and enforcement activity?

• What criteria should be used to determine the level of parking provision that should be provided?

• What are the wider impacts of current parking policy and illegally parked vehicles?

• What role should parking policy play in traffic management and demand management?

• How can public understanding and acceptance of the need for parking policy be achieved?

Interested parties are invited to submit written memoranda to the Committee before Monday 3 October 2005.

Memoranda should be a maximum of 6 A4 pages in length.

Please submit a single hard copy of your memorandum by post to the above address, and an electronic version preferably by e-mail to http://transcom@parlament.uk/ or alternatively on a disk with the hard copy. If you are unable to submit an electronic version of your memorandum, please take particular care to ensure that your submission is legible. All submissions should be final and complete; the Committee does not accept draft memoranda or subsequent amendments. Memoranda submitted to the Committee should be kept confidential until published by the Committee.

Press Notice 04/2005-06 9 August 2005

Dr John Patterson, Clerk of the Committee

© Parliamentary Copyright

Herron Convicted! Another can of worms opens

After coming back home to relax after an eventful holiday (full story here) there was a little surprise waiting for me...and another massive can of worms about to be opened.
I had moved house in July last year and sent off all necessary documentation to the relevant authorities, including my driving licence and vehicle registration document.
When taxing my vehicle this year it became apparent that the documents had not been returned by Swansea. Up until that point neither of the two documents had been required and therefore it was not apparent that they were missing.

Swansea were contacted. They had not received them. Replacements were arrranged. When my driving licence came back, there was a surprise... the licence had been endorsed with 3 penalty points and a £120 fine. I had been convicted in my absence.

The Newcastle Journal has not yet quite grasped the enormity of convicting people in their absence but you can read the Journal story here.

The letter has gone off to the Magistrates Court and can be read below...

The Westlands
Sunderland
SR4 7RP
11th August, 2005

The Listings Office
South East Northumberland Magistrates
Bedlington
NE22 2LX

Dear Sir / Madam,

Reference: Case Number 1924619

Driver Number: HERRO 603223 NA9GN

Further to telephone calls with Dot and Cathleen in your office of 10th August 2005 I would like to confirm the following before taking matters further.

On return from holiday my post contained my replacement driving licence, which had been returned by the DVLA in Swansea.
I had moved to the address above in July 2004 from 13 Peartree Mews, Ashbrooke, Sunderland.

All necessary and relevant authorities and utilities were notified at the time of the change of address, including the DVLA. My driving licence, along with my vehicle registration document was sent using ordinary post.

In July 2005 it became apparent when attempting to gather the paperwork to tax my vehicle (M3 NAH) that the registration document had not been returned, nor had my driving licence.

I made enquiries with DVLA. They had no record of receiving my documents. They informed me that many items of mail go missing every year and it was not their responsibility as it had been sent by ordinary post. I was advised to go to the DVLA centre at Gosforth to tax my vehicle and receive a replacement registration document. I also was forced to pay the £19 for a replacement licence.

I was somewhat amazed when I received my licence back. The licence had been endorsed.
The Convicting Court Code 2349 the DVLA identified as South East Northumberland Magistrates Court.
I was shocked to find that I had been convicted on 31st May 2005, fined £120 and now had three penalty points.

During the telephone conversation with Dot and Cathleen it transpired that a Notice of Intended Prosecution / Request for Information had been sent to the 13 Peartree Mews address. When no reply was forthcoming a Summons was sent to the same address.
When nothing came back regarding an alleged offence from 18th October 2004 it appears as though I have been convicted without any further attempts made to contact me.

What really concerns me is that this is a criminal matter and a court has convicted in my absence without establishing if any attempt have been made to contact me other than two letters sent to an address via ordinary post.
If there is reliance on ‘good service’ to mean that the Royal Mail, by virtue of the fact that they have not returned the mail to sender, have delivered the letters then I think this is an unacceptable state of affairs, especially in light of the number of items of mail which go missing every year. Reliance on such a flawed system as the sole basis for a subsequent case and conviction without ever establishing contact with the defendant I believe is a breach of my human rights.
Why was there no checks done of the Electoral Register which would have revealed the new address?
I could have been dead, in hospital, out of the country, incapacitated or one of many other scenarios.
It appears from information given to me by Sunderland Magistrates that every effort is made to trace a person once a fine has been levied, but the same resources are not used to find the person initially.

Just for clarification and information, I have detailed Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights below

Article 6
In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be pronounced publicly but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the interests of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice.
Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law.

Everyone charged with a criminal offence has the following minimum rights:
- a to be informed promptly, in a language which he understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against him;
- b to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence;
- c to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his own choosing or, if he has not sufficient means to pay for legal assistance, to be given it free when the interests of justice so require;
- d to examine or have examined witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;
- e to have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court.


I would therefore wish you to detail the procedures now available to me to have this matter brought before the courts.
I do wish to have the case re-heard, under section 142 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 I do believe, and would be grateful if you could provide me with the necessary forms and procedural guidelines to call the necessary witnesses.

For reference and information:

142. Power of magistrates' court to re-open cases to rectify mistakes etc.
(1) A magistrates' court may vary or rescind a sentence or other order imposed or made by it when dealing with an offender if it appears to the court to be in the interests of justice to do so; and it is hereby declared that this power extends to replacing a sentence or order which for any reason appears to be invalid by another which the court has power to impose or make. . . .
(2) Where a person is convicted by a magistrates' court and it subsequently appears to the court that it would be in the interests of justice that the case should be heard again by different justices, the court may so direct.

I would also be grateful if you could provide me with the necessary legislative definition of ‘good service’ which is taken into account by Magistrates or the Crown Prosecution Service with reference to items assumed to have been delivered by Royal Mail, as it goes against the grain of natural justice that a criminal conviction can be obtained on the basis of such scant evidence without ever establishing contact with the person alleged to have committed the offence.
I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,

Neil Herron

Times Letters...Regionalisation

Letters to the Editor

August 12, 2005

Doubts over a region's 'voice'
From Mr David Tolson

Sir, The South East England Regional Assembly (Seera) declares on its website that it aims to be “a strong, credible voice for the region, engaging and representing our member organisations and, through them, the wider public”. Seera consists of 111 unelected members, nominated by local authorities, town and parish councils and environmental, business and other groups.
At a plenary meeting on July 13, a majority of members was declared to have passed, on a weighted voting system, a draft South East Plan for the future development of the “region” up to 2026. While Seera has not yet released minutes of that meeting to the public, it has published a very disturbing analysis of the votes.

Forty-four of the 111 members did not vote. A Seera official has explained to me that 23 of those neither attended nor appointed alternates, while the rest either left the meeting before the vote, or simply failed to return their voting forms. This means that, with 13 members abstaining and seven voting against the motion, only 47 members (that is, 42 per cent of the members, or 45 per cent of the total weighted votes) voted for approval of the plan.

A “strong, credible voice for the region”?

DAVID TOLSON
Kingsclere, Hampshire

Neil launches fresh No campaign

Neil launches fresh No campaign

Political activist Neil Herron is planning a new No campaign - against a £120 fine for an offence he didn't know he had committed.

Mr Herron, best known for his opposition to the North-East assembly and Brussels legislation, now has a fight to clear his own name.

The Sunderland-based campaigner was caught speeding on October 18 last year on the A692 Watergate Bank North in Gateshead.

However, a mix-up led to the fine being sent to his old address in Pear Tree Mews. Mr Herron said he had sent his driving licence and vehicle registration to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency after he moved to his new home in The Westlands.
But the DVLA claimed it had not arrived - meaning Mr Herron had to apply for new documents.

When they arrived, he was shocked to find his licence recorded details of a conviction on May 31 for failing to supply information regarding the speeding offence, and the £120 fine outstanding.

Last night he said: "You can't just rely on one letter getting to the right person, and then convict them on the basis of it. It's not good enough."

He is now asking for the case to be brought back to court so he can give his defence.

A Northumbria Police spokesman said: "The police use details provided by the DVLA and this information should be up to date."

Excel Airways...XL Airways...Ex-Hell Airways

Herron back home from holiday...Luggage still on world tour!

After a busy year which saw the drive for an elected assembly defeated in the North East; councillors being found to have breached the Local Government Act 1972; the unelected assembly forced to split from the Association of North East Councils; the Bill of Rights challenge to the parking regime to expose the flawed Metric Martyrs judgment; creating the 'No' campaign against the European Constitution; a military coup in Brussels and Westminster with our AdVan and much more... it was decided the Herron should have a holiday.

Usually holidays are a time to wind down and relax. This one was to be no different...or so I thought...despite the fact that the garage which was replacing my radiator ordered the wrong one the day before I was due to fly leaving me to travel to Manchester airport in a loan car. No problem.
On my own for the first time in my life (my son and other family members were joining up after cruising the Nile) I thought that the Red Sea would be an ideal place to catch up on a few dives and chill.
However, 24 hours after an uneventful arrival the bombs went off in Sharm El Sheik setting tourists into a state of panic. Phone calls came in to the mobile checking on my whereabouts. Luckily I was a few hundred miles away in the resort of Hurghada. Everyone back home was reassured. Everything was fine. I am a firm believer that when your number is up, it's up, and as I will detail, after this holiday I think it's not my time yet.
Coming from the city of Sunderland where there have been over a dozen fatal stabbings and shootings in the past twelve months, the threat from terrorists is statistically so remote in comparison the Foreign Office should put out a warning to tourists not to visit Sunderland!

Some were concerned about sharks. Again, statistically, there is more chance of being killed by a falling coconut than a shark...plus there were more 'sharks' above the water trying to fleece unsuspecting toursist than there were below the waves.

The first few days were problem free. Perfect diving on coral reefs with fantastic underwater flora and fauna. Sipping beer on the beach as the sun dropped below the horizon. Crystal clear night skies and shooting stars.
The first 'experience' was an 'out of air' on a wreck dive. The wreck in question was a British ship, the Thistlegorm, sunk in 1941 by a long range German bomber out of Crete. The dive had been uneventful until we attempted to reach the ascent rope away from the wreck. The 20m or so swim in horrendously strong currents resulted in 3 of the 6 divers in the group (including myself) being out of air. At one point there were three of us sharing one tank at 15m. Panic results in drowning. No-one panicked, even when we reached 5m to do the safety stop to avoid decompression illness and the boat skipper had not dropped the emergency tank and two regulators. We managed with the air we had. Once we all surfaced one of the German divers told us that the year previously a freind of his had experienced the same.
His 'buddy' panicked.
He drowned.

The dive on the afternoon was straightforward and we went through the ship's hold containing motorbikes, boxes of ammunition and even hundreds of pairs of wellington boots...all still where they were 64 years ago and still intact. I did notice however that a couple of the armoured vehicles tyres were a bit flat.

A few days later a severe bout of food poisoning wiped me out for a couple of days...something experienced by every other guest at the hotel.
"Shit happens" was the travel reps philosophy...and it most certainly did!

Back in action and on the dive boat (a 45ft beast of a thing) we were steaming towards a reef at a fair speed. A couple of dive boats were already at anchor with snorkellers in and around, divers preparing to enter. I was sitting up on the sundeck some 10ft away from the skipper, turning my body from pale blue to off white.
The skipper's panicked cry, although in Egyptian, would translate into " Oh f***" in any language, as he held the gear stick in his hand...some two feet clear of its housing.
His twelve year old son grabbed the wheel with white knuckles showing as the skipper fled below deck and into the engine room to knock the boat into reverse manually. Unfortunately it happened after and not before the collision. The screams and the sound of splintering wood and twisting metal as we hit the first boat broadside increased as we bounced off and hit the second. Unbalanced bodies in their dive gear fell on the decks and into the water. Our boat managed to avoid being grounded on the reef by a fraction. Luckily there were no casualties...not even our skipper who had to avoid flying Egyptian Coke bottles. Our boat, the aptly named 'Pirate 3' suffered slight paint damage. The others were quite badly damaged. I think insurance details were exchanged in a high pitched 100+ decibel exchange. It was decided that it would perhaps be best if we found another reef to dive that day.

The family arrived and we had a wonderful, uneventful time...each one catching the squits on different days. My son qualified as a Scuba Diver in between visiting sick relatives.
They left.

A couple of days later I made my way, on the wrong coach, to Hurghada airport...which appeared to have been built by Friday afternoon builders. It was inhabited by a cacophony of what can only be described as experienced scam merchants...even the cleaners were at it holding out their hands demanding money from anyone wishing to use the filthy toilets. Coming from our over-regulated little island where anally retentive bureaucrats prowl over the smallest indiscretion by traders, they would have had a field day and would have been able to produce an offence list that could have kept a thousand of them in jobs for life. Even the duty free shop was at it, scamming the unsuspecting punters by pricing in dollars but using a euro exchange rate to convert to Egyptian pounds. I paid in dollars.

I had a foreboding that the holiday was far from over. We filed through security. Offensive items were deposited in a large perspex container...not quite sure what type of terrorist would wish to attempt to hijack a plane with a toothpick, a pair of plastic scissors or even a toe nail clipper.

Armed security manned the x-ray machine. Bags were screened with watchful eyes...unless a babe was walking through (for 'babe' read anything 16-45 years old with breasts and legs). Security lapses every few seconds!

Our plane to Manchester. Was sat just outside. Our departure time came and went. After half an hour an announcement came over the tannoy system...
"The plane is delayed 2 hours. There is a serious problem with one of the engines."
I am sure that those a little fearful of flying would have perhaps have preferred an announcement along the lines of, 'the plane has a slight technical fault.'
An engineer was to be despatched from Cairo. I imagined the guy in overalls getting on a plane with a Philips scredriver and an adjustable spanner in his pocket.
I knew that this plane was going nowhere.
I opened the next can of beer.
After two hours the announcement came..."The engine cannot be fixed. We are putting you up in a hotel. Your luggage is to stay on the plane. Coaches will be here in an hour or so."
I opened my fifth can of beer.
Then a call went out..."We have one seat available on the flight to Gatwick. Could any passenger from the Manchester flight wishing to go home please make their way to the desk."
Literally five minutes later I was on the plane. Five minutes after that I was airborne. Don't worry about the luggage.
In all there were 18 passengers who had transferred over.
Their fun had not even started! For me...I knew what to expect. When human beings have to deal with contingencies...the problems start.
We landed at Gatwick after 6 hours. We were told to expect a luxury coach which would take us to Manchester. We stayed behind on the plane to wait for our 'liason officer.'
We got Richard Took. His appearance did not instil confidence for a smooth transition. Untidy appearance, unkempt hair...but a luminous yellow jacket.
"I will take you to baggage reclaim, then we will go out front and there will be a luxury coach to take you on your forward journey to Manchester airport."
It was pointed out to Richard that there was no luggage. We had all got on the flight with minutes notice. However, he was adamant. I sensed deceit at play. Excel Airways had 6 hours to put a contingency plan in place. I sensed chaos...lack of information always gives that indication.
After half an hour in baggage reclaim Richard conceded defeat.
"I am going to take you to the bus out front where we were to be met by someone from Customer Relations."
I had already picked up on Richard's evasiveness.
"There is no luxury coach Richard, is there? I believe that you have been stalling for time."
We got out front. No coach. No Customer Relations person. Richard handed out business cards with the telephone number for Customer Relations. He denied that he had said that there would be a human being! He blamed it on the passengers who were tired and stressed after such a long journey. We must have misheard. His patronising attitude caused a few raised voices. He asked for back-up.
He was, by his incompetence, turning a difficult situation into a potentially explosive one. Some of the sixteen passengers had small children. No-one had been offered drink or food. We all stood and waited.
I asked Richard if he had a full list of the names of the passengers. He did not. Nothing had been faxed through.
At a time when the country is on a state of high alert due to the threat from terrorism, Excel Airways had brought 16 people into the country and had no record of who they were. In the confusion at Hurghada, which could have been engineered, forged passports could have been used. I was comfortable in the fact that this was highly unlikely as most had beer bellies, tattoos and Man U shirts...the men were pretty much the same!

A fifteen seater minibus turned up. The sixteen passengers looked at each other.
Ten resigned and weary passengers gave up and went on the minibus. The rest dug in. Richard admitted that it was a shambles. He admitted that no-one would be available at Customer Relations until Monday.
He was given an ultimatum.
Our Mercedes taxi overtook the minibus some 40 minutes later.

I arrived at my vehicle at 6.30am, some 15 hours after leaving the hotel...the three hour drive home was a doddle.

As I write, five days later, after spending time in between speaking to machines, my luggage has just been located, along with my first human to human contact...in Manchester. My telephone numbers, which had been handed to Richard Took in Gatwick Airport with the promise of an update call on Monday, must have disappeared somewhere in the Ex Hell Airways system.

Dare I hold my breath waiting for the overnight courier to deliver? Or should I buy another pair of underpants?

Would I recommend Ex Hell Airways? Of course...providing it was for a charter flight for the Government.

Glad to be back at work for a rest.

Why it's nearly impossible to find a candle that still fits its holder

Why it's nearly impossible to find a candle that still fits its holder
by BRENDAN MONTAGUE, Mail on Sunday 09:42am 7th August 2005

It is the curse of the modern dinner party: the wine is open, the guests are mingling, the food is almost ready - but the candles won't fit the candlesticks.

Growing numbers of householders are complaining that their candles wobble around inside the candelabra - threatening to spill wax on to the dinner or even set fire to the napkins - or are too big to be squeezed in at all.

According to retailers across the country, they are being besieged by irate shoppers demanding to know why they can't find candles to match their favourite candlesticks.

The answer, The Mail on Sunday can reveal, is a combination of the metric system and a lack of regulation by the Department of Trade and Industry.

Most candlesticks are made to hold candles with the standard diameter -seven-eighths of an inch - which have adorned palaces and more humble abodes across Britain since 1840.

This imperial measurement is the standard of Price's Candles, for decades the dominant force in the British market.

Now, however, Britain is being flooded with cheap candles from Europe and China which are made to metric measurements - meaning they will always be slightly too big or slightly too small for imperial candlesticks.

The problem has been exacerbated by the DTI as it has not introduced any rules requiring manufacturers to say on the box what width their candles are.

Change driven by price

Susan Edge, director of the Cheshire-based Candle Supply Company, said:"Everyone is changing to metric. If you have an older candleholder, it is more difficult to find a candle that will fit.

"We do get a lot of customers coming in with their candleholders to fit the candles. They have difficulties with the change.

"The old imperial sizes are still used for church candles but the mass-produced standard candles are all done on machines and all done in metric sizes."

The change has been driven largely by price: customers buying candles made to the imperial measure have to pay up to £12.50 - compared with supermarket 'dinner candles' from Portugal at £3.

Rosey Barnet, artistic director of Glasgow-based Shearer Candles, said: "We seem to be getting an increasing number of people coming into our retail store complaining that they can no longer get candles to fit their holders.

"The suppliers and supermarkets now demand we deal in metric. We all deal in metric but the general public want imperial.

"Price's, suppliers to the Queen and once the largest candlemakers in theworld, has insisted on keeping imperial measures but have now been forced to include metric figures.

Brigadier Roy Wilde, honorary secretary of the British Candlemakers 'Federation, said: "I would love to go back to feet and inches but we have to get on with it. We made a decision - which in my view was a mistake - to go metric. It's far too late now.

"A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry yesterday confirmed that there was no European or UK legislation governing the measurement of candles.

English north-east: the big idea that Blair ignored

New Statesman, Nov 15, 2004 by Peter Dunn

New Labour used to be quite good at selling snow to the Eskimos, but its catastrophic failure to snow the voters of north-east England into accepting a regional assembly leaves Tony Blair (not to mention his dear departed friend Peter Mandelson) with some serious explaining to do. This casino-hungry government knew all along that its giddy little gamble with "local democracy" (which sent [pounds sterling]11m of taxpayers' money slithering down the greasy Tyne), was a sop to the chronic realities of unemployment and job creation in the region. Whitehall could--and would--slap a veto on anything that it regarded as too uppity in the new legislature. A parliament of the north-east would have had as much real power as the Zoyland-cum-Slurrybucket parish council. With less job satisfaction.

So what was behind it all? And why, at a critical point in its first spin of office, did the government throw a blanket over an alternative scheme that just might have transformed the fortunes of one of Britain's most deprived regions?

The answer may be found in the run-up to the 2001 general election and, in particular, in Mandelson's mounting panic that he might lose his 17,500 majority in Hartlepool. Mandelson's period in charge of the Millennium Dome had been widely ridiculed, as had his [pounds sterling]373,000 loan for a house in London. In Hartlepool, his airy dismissal of the notions of poverty and his prolonged absences on business down south (the MP was becoming known locally as "missing person") were getting up people's noses. He needed an issue, and quick, to dig himself out of a hole. After discussing it with Tony Blair, MP for the neighbouring Sedgefield constituency, he borrowed a juicy one (unbidden) from the closet of John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister and nominally the man in charge of regional development.

Mandelson began whispering into influential ears in the media. Peter Hetherington of the Guardian reported that Mandelson had "added the regions to his election agenda", though he was already Blair's spokesman on Europe. An admiring "exclusive" splash story in the Northern Echo revealed that Mandelson had abandoned his hostility to regional government and was now in favour of it, subject to a referendum. The then MP also let it be known that he now recognised that the government's efforts at fighting poverty, though hitherto brilliant, had failed.

Meantime, a very different sort of scheme for the north-east bit the dust. This was outlined in a NS article I wrote in December 2000. It called for a new ministry of international information technology, to be based in abandoned government buildings alongside a recently created outreach campus attached to Durham University. Academe and high-tech companies gathered in an adjacent business park would have created a world-class research city, its young workforce taking state-funded IT degree courses up to PhD level. The idea ignited enthusiasm across the region. Professor Andy Gillespie, executive director of Newcastle University's Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies, offered to do a feasibility study. Durham University was raring to go. Stockton South's MP, Dari Taylor, frustrated that new Labour's revolution in the region seemed to be on permanent tea break, thought she could persuade her friend Sally (now Baroness) Morgan, then Blair's political secretary at 10 Downing Street, to launch the idea at a pre-election press conference.

And that was the end of it. Downing Street said "no" and Taylor stopped returning my calls. Letters to Prescott, Mandelson and Stephen Byers (MP for North Tyneside and the then trade secretary) went unanswered. John Burton, Blair's influential agent in Sedgefield, promised to fix up an interview next time the PM was at home, but didn't.

Taylor, who has the nimble-footedness you would expect of a leading light in the All-Party Parliamentary Tap-Dancing Team, is still not answering my calls. Just before north-east voters blew their rasp-berry and left a disheartened Prescott's ears popping, I had a message from her office: "She still thinks the idea is an excellent one, and is certainly something which could be taken up by the NE regional assembly."

Meanwhile, in Brussels, the man who believed in regional government--for as long as it took--is licking the cream from his lips.

COPYRIGHT 2004 New Statesman, Ltd.