Wycombe District parking fines revealed

Bucks Free Press

MOTORISTS have been hit with more than £300,000 worth of fines in four months after Wycombe District Council took control of traffic wardens, it has been revealed.
The council has billed 5,223 drivers since taking over enforcement duties from the police in October, worth £338,410.
Of these just 3,434 tickets have been paid, worth £125,867.

Catherine Spaltion, press officer for the council said as most people paid the fines within 14 days – during a 50 per cent “discount period”. This means the fine actually paid often falls below the amount officially charged by the council.
The full value of each ticket is £50 or £70, depending on the offence.

The council said none of its officers worked on an incentive, commission or target led basis.
It said reasons for unpaid tickets could include a vehicle's owner not being traceable, a disabled driver having been verified, or a successful appeal against the ticket. Some cases may have gone to formal adjudication or even be at the court stage.

Wardens rake in £150,000 for council

This is South Wales


ALMOST £150,000 has been raised by parking fines in Swansea in just five months.
More than 7,000 motorists have received parking fines since the local authority took over responsibility for issuing tickets.

Between September 1 last year and January 31, the council has dished out hefty fines which have seen them cash in £147,919.

However, while the council is receiving money for each ticket issued, a council spokesman said the authority was only responding to people breaking the rules.
He said: "Since taking over civil parking enforcement responsibilities last year we issued 7,106 penalty charge notices because of people parking inconsiderately. If people don't park inconsiderately, they won't receive a penalty charge notice." and we'd be more than happy to issue no such notices."

The income that is generated from the fines is ring-fenced and put back into maintaining the civil parking enforcement service.
Any extra money left over will be ploughed into helping improve transportation services in the city, such as car parks and park and ride.

A council spokesman said: "Our main focus has always been to discourage people from parking inconsiderately and causing an obstruction to pedestrians and other road users and we've received a great deal of support from the public who have contacted us to ask for our civil parking enforcement officers to patrol their areas."

Depending on the severity of the parking offence, some of the tickets issued are £70 and others will be £50. If tickets are paid within 14 days, there is a 50 per cent discount.

But one motorist parking their car in Swansea on Saturday, who did not want to give their name, claimed the fines were just a money-making exercise. for the council.
"I can understand it when someone is parked dangerously on double yellows, but there is just nowhere to park for free anymore in Swansea, and if you need your car in work, you're forced to cough up huge sums every week or gamble on not getting a ticket."

Should a yellow line have a t-bar? Is the adjudication service independent?

Parking adjudicators will have you believe that the law doesn't concern itself with trifles BUT it isn't a trifle when you get walloped for a £120 fine.

However, there is a High Court case pending which could re-establish the rule of law and ensure that local authorities comply with the law. Adjudicators (funded by the local authorities who have repeatedly failed to comply with the law ... the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002) have seized on the phrase 'substantial compliance' with the interpretation that if a sign 'looks' like a sign (or line) then 'no reasonable motorist' could have been misled.

That is not how the law is written. TSRGD 2002 is explicit and sets out the dimensions (and permitted variants) for road traffic signs. Any deviations from prescribed signage requires Special Authorisation from the Secretary of State.

Don't take my word for it ...
Here is the British Parking Association's submission to the House of Commons Transport Committee:
TRAFFIC SIGNS
30. Traffic and parking regulations are given effect by traffic signs and markings. In the UK signs are prescribed precisely in Traffic Signs Regulations and General Direction TSRGD (SI 2002/3113) and if a sign or marking does not comply with TSRGD then the regulation has no effect. We believe that it is important that, particularly for parking, where drivers are expected to comply with regulations, that the precision of signing is preserved and enforced. Where a driver is at risk of a financial penalty, or worse, signs cannot be "about right".

Not convinced?
Check out the statement of the DETR (now the Department for Transport) in relation to the requirement to have t-bars terminating double and single yellow lines reported by the BBC here:

One of the main problems, he claims, is when double yellow lines are painted without a T-bar finishing off the lines at each end.

The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) confirmed that with single or double yellow lines there must be a block painted at a 90-degree angle at the end of the lines.
A spokesman said: "If this end line isn't there then the lines have been laid out incorrectly by the local authority and you would have grounds to challenge the ticket in court."

In the above case North Yorkshire Police admitted:

We have been open and honest about this matter from the beginning and we have admitted we were in the wrong
North Yorkshire Police

One has to ask the question when was the law allowed to be 'dumbed down' and by whom?
Well, it seems to be that adjudicators are applying their own interpretation to the law (TSRGD 2002) ... and just remember that the adjudicators are appointed by the Joint Committee and are remunerated by the Joint Committee.

Who are the Joint Committee? The Joint Committee comprises of members from the councils participating in Civil Parking Enforcement.

To ensure that all the lines and signs comply with the law is an expensive business ... hence the reason for 'dumbing down.'
Apparent bias in the Judicial context. Lord Goff of Chieveley cited the dictum of Blackburn J in R and Rand (1866) LR 1 QB 230, 232:
“Any direct pecuniary interest, however small, in the subject of inquiry, does disqualify a person from acting as a judge in the matter.”

Once it is realised by the motoring public that the 'independent' adjudication services are remunerated on a per ticket basis (60p per PCN in the case of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal) then the more tickets issued the more money they receive.

Successful technical defences based on councils failure to comply with TSRGD 2002 reduce the amount of PCNs that can be issued and enforced.

Any rocket scientists care to comment?

Oh, the case of Glenn Dickinson v Hull City Council has been given leave for Judicial Review on the grounds that the Traffic Penalty Tribunal are not independent and signs must be as prescribed in law. Looks like Herron v The Parking Adjudicator (independence of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and TSRGD points) and Pendle v The Parking Adjudicator (TSRGD points) are likely to follow the same route after being refused at written stage are now both moving towards an oral hearing.

In the meantime, anyone with a ticket on an incorrectly terminated yellow line or coming before the Traffic Penalty Tribunal and raising concerns over their independence can request that their case be 'stayed' sine die pending the outcome of Dickinson.

Please don't all aspire to be as bad as this ...

Driver wins £20,000 for stress over parking tickets

and sends bailiffs to collect his money!

Daily Mail
By Colin Fernandez

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

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

City steps up parking fines... to balance the books

Balancing the books?
Thought it was about improving traffic flow and keeping the streets clear of congestion.

Sunderland Echo
By Ross Robertson
Drivers will face steeper fines if they are caught out by parking attendants.
Sunderland City Council is upping parking penalty charges from £60 and £40 to £70 and £50, bringing it in line with other towns and cities in the North East.

Council bosses say the move will prove an ever greater deterrent for parking pests as well as helping them balance the books.

The city's parking service costs £2.7million to run and produces a total income of £2.6million.

The new charges will bring in an extra £53,000 a year if a similar number of motorists are caught breaking parking rules.

The council was given two penalty charging options – Band 1 and Band 2 – when the new civil parking enforcement scheme was brought in last March.

It opted for Band 1, meaning motorists would either be fined £60 or £40, depending on how serious their parking offence was.

But after it was revealed that only a handful of other authorities in the country were operating on Band 1, senior councillors on the city's ruling cabinet have opted to switch to the higher band.Coun Jim Blackburn, responsible for transport and planning in the city, said: "All neighbouring authorities operate with Band 2 – and introducing the Band 2 charge will provide consistency.

"It will also help to make the service more financially sustainable."

Guidelines say it is sensible for councils to operate self-financing parking enforcement, but they should aim for motorists to have 100 per cent compliance with the rules – meaning no penalty charges are issued.

Coun Blackburn added: "It is anticipated that Band 2 charges will have a positive effect on the degree of compliance with parking and waiting restrictions."

Changing to Band 2 was also recommended by consultants RTA Associates, which carried out a review of civil parking enforcement in Sunderland.

The new charges will come into effect on March 16. Motorists will still get a 50 per cent discount if they pay within 14 days – but can expect a 50 per cent increase if they do not pay up on time.

Sunderland's parking enforcement regime has never been far from the headlines in recent years. An undercover investigation caught parking attendants making racist remarks and cracking jokes about disabled people. Private firm NCP was stripped of its contract to run the off-street parking enforcement regime in the wake of the damming BBC documentary.

Wayne Rooney escapes £60 parking fine

Click Liverpool

England footballer Wayne Rooney escaped a 60 pound parking fine after the manager at a hotel where he was staying stepped-in and got him off with it.

The superstar striker had taken his wife Coleen for a relaxing weekend at the Plush Vincent hotel in Southport as he recovers from a hamstring injury.

On Saturday night Wayne's silver Range Rover Sport was parked in a pay-and-display bay, but it didn't require a ticket from the machine as it was after 6pm.

Next morning his 80,000-pounds motor was still in the pay-and-display bay near the hotel but the Manchester United star did not get up in time to buy a ticket.

After noticing a traffic warden had started to write out a fixed penalty for the car the hotel front of house manager rushed out to plead Wayne's case.

After explaining who the car belonged to via radio to her senior officer Malcolm Ball, the blonde warden was then ordered to rip up the ticket and ignore the parking offence.

The attendant said: "The vehicle should have been issued with a penalty as it did not have a valid parking ticket.

"I was in the process of writing out the fine when I spoke to my boss and was ordered not to give one out."

One onlooker said: "Is it one rule for one and another for footballers?

"You would expect every driver to be treated the same but obviously not when it comes to Wayne Rooney.

"A £60 fine for a Premiership footballer is nothing. It knocks you sick.

"There is no way me or any other person would have been given such a let off. How can the council justify this?"

Hoping to cover his tracks Rooney had a mate shift the 80,000 silver sports car and replace it with his black BMW X5.

The couple checked out of the hotel this morning helped to their second vehicle by the hotel front of house manager Mr Ray Kaim Bacher who spoke to the attendant.

Mr Bacher, claims he did rush out to speak to the traffic attendant but says he would do it for most guests.

He said: "The car in question had been left in the space opposite the hotel by one of our valet parking.

"I walked and had a word with the traffic warden as the owners were getting ready to leave for the day and would only be a moment.

"We do that for most of our guests on a regular basis. It's just part of the service."

A spokesman for Sefton Council said: "We are in discussion with our parking contractor about what happened on this occasion.

"We have however, recently asked the contractor to be a bit more tolerant in this particular area as the parking restrictions are currently under review."

A spokeswoman from parking contractor Legion Group, confirmed it was one of their attendants involved but refused to comment any further.

Blackburn bar owner's bailiff 'nightmare'

The Citizen
By David Watkinson

A BAR boss has slammed “aggresive” bailiffs who have pursued him for three parking tickets — adding more than £1,000 in extra charges.
Ronnie Brown, 57, the owner of North Bar in Blackburn, said he and his wife Josephine, 56, had been treated “horrendously” by bailiffs from the Equita group.
In one letter he was warned that bailiffs will “remove property” from his home to “discharge” his debt.
The letter adds: “I will re-attend your address and may remove goods even in your absence.”
Mr Brown, of Kings Road, Blackburn, said: “I have been in the music business for years and had to deal with some unsavoury characters in my time but my experience with these bailiffs has been horrendous.
“We have been bullied and they have demanded exorbitant amounts of cash.”
Just last month the Lancashire Telegraph reported that pensioner Andy Miller suffered a fatal heart attack after being approached by a bailiff wanting to recover a speeding fine.

After receiving three parking tickets last year due to parking problems near the North Bar in Town Hall Street he attempted to appeal the fines.
But after the appeals were dismissed the council passed the fines, which had risen to £143 each, to the Equita agency.
When he was confronted by bailiffs each had risen to more than £366.
Mr Brown said: “I have paid the bills because the bailiffs were so forceful.
"I just wanted to get rid of them and get them away from my house.
"They sent letter after letter and confronted us face to face demanding the cash immediatly.
"I had no choice but to hand over a cheque.
“I was told that they would force entry to my house and take my property to the value of my debt.
“It was scary and has made my wife quite ill.”
He said he is now considering taking the bailiff firm to court to recover the “disproportionate” fine.
Blackburn with Darwen Council said that parking tickets that are not paid after repeated requests are passed to outside agencies for collection.
Bosses at Equita, the largest national private bailiff company in the UK, said they could not comment on Mr Brown’s case.

Nearly all speed cameras are illegal ...

With the Judicial Review on the illegality of decriminalised parking gathering pace another fightback by Britain's motorists is taking place. It is likely that hundreds if not thousands of motorists will ask to have their cases stayed pending the outcome of the case highlighted below.

Nearly all speed cameras in Britain are illegal following errors from every Home Secretary in the last 15 years, a court has heard.

By David Millward, Transport Editor 29 Jan 2009

Evidence was gathered illegally because 6,000 speed cameras were not given proper Parliamentary approval, it was claimed in a test case.

The action has been brought by a Aitken Brotherston, 61, a businessman from Lyme, Cheshire, who is appealing against a speeding conviction.

Michael Shrimpton, his counsel, told Manchester Crown Court that the case had wide-ranging implications.
It could mean that an estimated £600 million collected in fines and accompanying penalty points were invalid and trigger an avalanche of compensation claims from motorists.
Mr Shrimpton said a change in the 1988 Road Traffic Offenders Act in 1991 had not been properly implemented.

Until then the law that merely required the Home Secretary to approve the technical evaluation of the speed cameras. But since then additional Parliamentary approval has also been required for the devices.

Successive Home Secretaries, starting with Michael Howard in 1992, had failed to do so.
"But this was not done," Mr Shrimpton said. "It is an insult to Parliament in general that it had not identified a single device. This is a very important constitutional point.
"Since 1992 there have been hundreds of thousands of cases which we think are invalid.
"Speeding fines and convictions effect the very fabric of our society. Businesses and people's lives are severely affected when there is a ban from driving or fines.
"There are considerable economic considerations to take into account."

Mr Shrimpton added: "What the Department of Public Prosecutions is saying is that a Minister for example could decide to bring back hanging and he could do so without going to Parliament.
"He could draw up an order without Parliament seeing it and it would then become law."
Nearly 80 other cases are lined up behind Brotherston's which is likely to end up in the House of Lords.

The businessman, of was caught doing 52mph by a speed camera mounted in the back of a van in a 40mph zone.
He was photographed on the A5103 at 1pm on November 6 2006 while he drove his Y-reg Mitsubishi Gallant Estate out of the city centre.
Mr Brotherston received three points on his licence but he is adamant he was not speeding.
Guy Williams, the camera operator told the court: "That vehicle seemed to be driving in excess of 40mph. On seeing this I then aligned my crosshairs on the front of the car producing a reading of 52mph."
The case continues.

Newcastle City Council's refund dilemma ...

As Newcastle City Council's lawyers deliberate over the blunder that has seen the Council enforcing parking tickets in areas where signs were being used to indicate the effect of a Traffic Order which they revoked in 2001 the BBC headline below highlights what will have to be done.

The Department for Transport have confirmed that the problem £30 Fixed Daily Charge signs were to be authorised for use with a specific Traffic Order and that order was revoked in 2001. Since then the council have issued 185,000 £30 charges which have not been underpinned by any legal authority.

However, it is understood that this is one of the reasons why the DfT have postponed Newcastle's attempt to replace the criminalised parking enforcement regime they have at present with the more lucrative civil parking enforcement regime.

When an identical situation arose in Ceredigion an admission was made immediately and every attempt was to be made to refund the money.

We expect Newcastle City Council to confirm the areas affected and confirm that enforcement will be stopped until the signs are removed or until they are given Special Authorisation from the Secretary of State for their use. Failure to do so could lead to the courts being clogged with re-opened cases and appeals ... and an even bigger cost burden.

Refunds after parking fine error
BBC 10th December 2008
One of the 14 streets in which fines were incorrectly issued
Thousands of parking tickets are estimated to have been wrongly issued to motorists in a seaside town over the last two years after a mistake.

Ceredigion Council and Dyfed-Powys Police said people fined for parking in Aberystwyth town centre since November 2006 could apply for their £30 back.
They are trying to trace those affected by the "systems failure".

The error was found when the council went to renew a traffic order and found the original had not been updated.

Police said their officers and council wardens would not be issuing £30 parking tickets until a traffic order was in place in the new year.
In the meantime, drivers have been urged to park sensibly and warned they could still be booked for obstruction.

PARKING ERROR AREAS
Alfred Place
Bath Street
Baker Street
Corporation Street
Crynfryn Row
Eastgate Street
Great Darkgate Street
Market Street
Owain Glyndwr Square
Portland Road
Portland Street
Queen's Road
Terrace Road
Upper Portland Street

It is thought the blunder could cost cash-strapped Ceredigion council thousands of pounds.
Officials said the error came to light when it tried to update a town centre "experimental traffic order".
A council spokesman said: "Both the county council and the Dyfed-Powys Constabulary are working in close collaboration to attend to the issues arising from the systems failure that occasioned the experimental traffic order, covering the Aberystwyth town centre traffic restraint area, not being updated in November 2006.

"All parties are united in their resolve to assist members of the public deserving refunds on parking tickets issued during the interim period. It is expected that a new order will be in place early in January 2009."
Chief Inspector Robyn Mason of Aberystwyth police said many motorists could be affected.
He added: "There could be thousands of motorists eligible for refunds, and we are doing our best to trace them."
Ch Insp Mason asked motorists to collate as much information as possible when applying for a refund.
People issued with a ticket in the town centre since 11 November 2006 could qualify.
They are asked to contact the council's highways department, quoting the reference TM2008.

NCP Services' Tim Cowen has had a busy week defending the indefensible

I must be careful however, 'cos last time I wrote about a parking matter involving Mr. Cowen and NCP Services he told me I had spelled 'indefensible' wrong so let's have a look at this week's excuses ... and we shall see who is going through a bad spell ...

The first one is ... Parking Ticket for Funeral Vicar reported by the BBC. Hearse outside a church. Photo of vicar on Blue Badge. Mourners telling the Civil Enforcement Officer it was the vicar's car and a funeral was taking place. Spokesman Tim Cowan said: "The CEO who issued the ticket is adamant that at no time did anyone explain the car was owned by a vicar conducting a funeral. "
Would like to know on a believability scale of 1 -10 as to whose word you would accept. The vicar and churchgoers or the NCP Services employee. To check out how Mr. Cowen responded when faced with similar accusations that his employees were less than honest click here

Second one is what you would call 'Bang to Rights Guv.'
Veteran parking campaigner, and fellow TalkSPORT guest Barrie Segal exposed illegal activity by a NCP Services Civil Enforcement Officer in the City of Westminster. The story was reported in the News of the World last Sunday and shows a CEO faking evidence. Great work by Barrie and the NOTW.
NCP Services spokesman Tim Cowen insisted wardens were not on commission, saying: “There is no incentive to us to issue these unenforceable tickets.”

It must be pointed out that the tickets are only 'unenforceable' when the motorist knows the law and catches the CEO out as in this case. If it is shown that this is common practice then there must be a Police investigation. All the money from fines issued at this location must be refunded immediately.

Had a parking ticket in Newcastle? This one's black and white ...

Catching up after a hectic few weeks there are a few pretty big bombshells about to hit the parking 'industry.'

The first one is local and has been simmering for quite a while and involves Newcastle City Council's paring regime. This situation highlights the absurdity that is parking enforcement in this country. Sunderland, South Tyneside and Gateshead all operate decriminalised (or civil) parking enforcement whereas Newcastle still operates under the 1984 Road Traffic Regulation Act and therefore parking penalties are non-endorsable criminal offences.

Under the criminalised regime you are allowed to appeal to the Magistrates Court rather than an 'independent' adjudicator (funded by the council). The Magistrates are truly independent of the council and any appellant is likely to get a fair hearing.
Newcastle City Council operate a 'Fixed Daily Charge' scheme whereby such a charge is applied should you fail to adhere to the signed terms and conditions (whether it be loading / pay and display / disabled etc.).

Because the £30 Fixed Daily Charge signs are not prescribed in law in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 Newcastle required Special Authorisation from the Secretary of State. This was granted in 1997 and the conditions applied to a specific Traffic Regulation Order ... which was revoked in 2001.

Enter Roberto Campoli ... a Sunderland musician who acquired a Fixed Penalty Charge whilst unloading his equipment from a Loading Bay outside the Carling Academy where he was playing a gig. His crime was that his car did not look like the vehicle indicated on the Fixed Daily Charge sign ... and therefore he got a ticket. He appealed and was given short shrift by Newcastle City Council ... and then approached us. We established, after acquiring the papers from various sources that the Special Authorisation related to a Traffic Order that had been revoked in 2001. The Department for Transport at first claimed to be unable to find the front page of the document but after intervention by Lord Lucas the damning evidence was revealed. We had already obtained a copy previously and had submitted it to the Court as part of a skeleton argument for Mr. Campoli. On his third visit to the Court on 19th January 2009 Newcastle City Council decided to offer no evidence. The press and media were informed.

We are currently awaiting a response as to how Newcastle intends to progress with other outstanding Fixed Daily Charge matters but it appears that they have had no legal authority to issued such penalties since 2001. It appears as though they are in a hole and their legal department are looking into it.

How much is at stake ... well, with 185,000+ tickets at £30 a pop it comes to over £5.5m. If you have paid such a ticket or currently have one outstanding the drop us a line and we will give you copies of all the evidence neil@parkingappeals.co.uk

Meanwhile, read Roberto's tale below. The song by his band Black Sun will be released soon.

Roberto's parking-fine protest song
Roberto Campoli has composed a protest against his parking ticket.
26 January 2009
Parking charges are not fine says fed-up musician Roberto Campoli.

Back on the road again

Parking fine protest song to be released

Roberto's parking-fine protest song
Roberto Campoli has composed a protest against his parking ticket.
26 January 2009
Parking charges are not fine says fed-up musician Roberto Campoli.
He was thrilled to land a gig at Newcastle's O2 Academy, in Westgate Road, with his band Black Sun.But before he had even unloaded the band's gear from his car, a traffic warden gave him a ticket for parking in a loading bay. Furious Roberto, from East Moorside, Sunderland, contacted Newcastle City Council and was told only vans unloading equipment could use the bays, in Fenkle Street.The 22-year-old music student challenged the £30 charge in court.
>>Click here to check out Black Sun

But when he arrived at Newcastle Magistrates' Court last week he was told the case had been dropped.Now he has put pen to paper to compose a song about his troubles.Roberto says he has written songs about current affairs, but is not a political campaigner."I'm just a normal lad from Sunderland. I don't really know much about the law, I just saw something I thought was unfair."I don't know any bands that have vans unless they are touring professionally and have big coaches.

Parking campaigner Neil Herron helped Roberto put his legal case together. He claims Newcastle City Council did not have legal permission to display traffic regulation signs like the one Roberto fell foul of.He said: "It seems if you don't know the law they will take £30 off you. This case has huge implications for Newcastle Council."Singer Roberto, drummer John Martindale and guitarist Ross Underwood have been together since last year and say they have a new indie sound.They have already gigged in Italy, and at the trendy Hope and Anchor, in Camden, London, and are planning a UK tour in July.

Parking still not fine in Camden ... when will the truth come out?

We expect more whistleblowing and revelations soon. Will be interesting to know how 'aware' the council has been with regard to the unlawful restrictions it has been enforcing whilst embarking on the programme of corrections.

Hats off to Richard Osley at the Camden New Journal for the story below ...

Six months on the meter, and the man brought in to make parking fairer for motorists has gone‘Errors of judgement’ claim as parking department’s star signing exits the Town Hall

THE Town Hall last night (Wednesday) claimed a parking chief appointed to make Camden’s flagging parking system fairer had made “errors of judgement”.

In an unexpected move, John Meyer left the council service in the final working week before Christmas – just two months after a New Journal investigation into the council’s much-maligned warden service.Mr Meyer had previously been expected to keep the post of interim parking manager until the summer at least.But his contract has not been renewed and he cleared his desk on the Friday before the festive break.

The Town Hall said there had been actions “not compatible with the public profile of the post”.

Officials confirmed that Borough Solicitor Andrew Maughan was last month asked to investigate anonymous allegations that Mr Meyer had awarded himself a permit allowing him to park on yellow lines and in residents’ bays across Camden – although it did not lead to any disciplinary action.

A spokeswoman said: “We investigated the allegation. It identified some minor issues but the investigation is closed and no disciplinary action was taken.”As a matter of course, Camden investigates all complaints against staff. It was pointed out yesterday how accusations are often made unfairly against officials, particularly those in high office. The council spokeswoman added that directors believed Mr Meyer had contributed to improvements.

Last night, Mr Meyer, 37, declined to comment, beyond confirming that a six-month contract had expired on December 19 and that he was now working on a fresh challenge elsewhere. He is understood to have felt he performed well and got on well with senior colleagues during a drive to reorganise the department, taking backbiting among some members of the team in his stride.But the sudden decision to part company has left the parking department without a head just as it enters its most crucial period for four years and with critical decisions over who should run the borough’s warden service in the future to be resolved.

Camden is planning to offer its biggest-ever deal to private contractors at the start of next year and is preparing the ground before going out to tender on the lucrative opportunity. The winning bidder could take on all of Camden’s parking enforcement operations for eight years. At the same time, the Town Hall is struggling to understand why cash raised from parking tickets is down by £4million, with bosses ordering an internal investigation and a search for “quick wins” to improve performance. A council spokeswoman said yesterday: “At the end of Mr Meyer’s contract, the position was jointly reviewed with him and it was decided not to renew the contract. The decision has absolutely nothing to do with contracts or parking tickets.” She added: “During his time with Camden, John has played an important role in the council’s review of the service to make parking more transparent and fair. There were, however, some errors of judgement on his part that we believe were not compatible with the head of service role or the public profile of the post. No further action is necessary.”

Mr Meyer has forged a reputation as a top operator in the specialised world of parking enforcement and has advised other councils and large parking companies on their operations. But, as the New Journal revealed in an investigation in October, his appointment in Camden was the source of staff unrest from almost his first day. A group of staff took the unusual step of writing to their superiors – albeit anonymously – to advise caution. While some of his new colleagues at Camden raised the possibility of a conflict of interest over Mr Meyer’s private company HHCT Limited, which repairs hand-held computers used by wardens, and his brother Simon’s post at one of Camden’s contractors, council chiefs stood by their man.In a briefing organised in response to the New Journal investigations, environment department director Rachel Stopard insisted there would be no conflict in terms of his private interests and that he had given up a position he had held in the Conservative party. And in a private memo, Robert Scourfield, her deputy, confidently announced Mr Meyer’s appointment to staff, introducing him as a star signing and suggesting he would be in post until June 2009.

Officials at the Town Hall stressed last night that the “errors of judgement” did not relate to Mr Meyer’s business interests. Senior officers told last year how they need to make the parking service “fit for purpose”, although initial moves to hike builders’ permits by 267 percent have not engendered much confidence among motorists. Unresolved internal investigations into two suspended, well-liked managers have, meanwhile, further angered staff. The department was already unsettled by the departure of Rudy Bright, the last permanent parking manager, who left last year with a redundancy package soon after he had been lampooned by protesters in a You-Tube video condemned by the council.

Camden’s Labour group leader Councillor Anna Stewart said: “This a blow to the Camden Parking Service, which is in a demoralised and volatile state. There is a massive financial shortfall looming this year and staff will be under pressure to bring in ever higher charges for residents. Parking must be fair and effective for local people.”A council spokeswoman said: “The process of recruiting a new permanent head of parking services is under way, and short-term arrangements have been made to cover the post temporarily.”

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North vehicle trackers to be sold across India
Dec 12 2008

by Andrew Mernin,
The Journal

A SCIENTIST whose invention saved him from a speeding ticket and a campaigner for motorists’ rights have joined forces to commercialise a new tracking system which will now be sold across India.

North East inventor Dr Phillip Tann and Neil Herron – a well-known regional campaigner for motorists hit by questionable parking and speeding fines – launched a business on the back of Dr Tann’s groundbreaking vehicle-tracking system.

And yesterday the South Tyneside business, FleetM8, announced a deal with India’s SLN Technologies which will see the technology marketed throughout the Indian sub-continent.
SLN specialises in telemetric, tracking and communications technology and is involved in the Indian lunar satellite project Chandrayaan and worked on the control system for India’s moon mission.

Initially FleetM8 will market its products as vehicle tracking devices which can either be used via a mobile phone or attached to the vehicle to track speed and location.

However the company is currently working on a number of other applications for the technology including a child safety device and a mobile golf course-mapping device for golfers.

The technology first gained recognition last year when Dr Tann received a speeding ticket from Northumbria Police which claimed he was doing 42 mph in a 30 mph zone.
However, Dr Tann’s vehicle was fitted with a prototype GPS tracking device which not only recorded the vehicle’s position it also recorded a speed, to six decimal places, of 29.177196mph.
Today’s commercialisation of that device follows the sourcing of around £250,000 of investment by directors Dr Tann, campaigner Neil Herron and financial adviser Byron Longstaff.

In recent years Neil Herron has become a well known campaigner for the successful Metric Martyr’s fight – to be allowed to sell fruit and vegetables in imperial weights – and is also a champion for the motorist in parking and speeding disputes.

Last year he exposed errors in Sunderland’s legal regime which resulted in thousands of motorists being refunded for parking tickets.

As well as India, FleetM8’s technology has attracted interest from several other international markets.

Dr. Tann said: “Within a few years we anticipate that cars and other vehicles will once again take the lead with the integration of sophisticated technology transmitting data to a remote ‘black box’ at such low cost and volumes that will enable a multitude of applications to be utilised.
“Just imagine the road networks as a computer network with traffic lights as switches and roundabouts as hubs and we could end up with super-efficient highways and massively reduced congestion.”

The company is preparing to launch the technology in Australia as a mobile phone application through a partnership deal with Vodafone.

FleetM8 has also gained interest from the States and is in talks with a number of haulage firms who could harness the system to monitor long-distance trips. In South Africa, where vehicle theft and car-jacking is rife, interest has been shown in FleetM8 by businesses who would like to market it as a tracking device to assist in recovering stolen vehicles.

Similarly in Kenya, local authorities have expressed an interest in the technology to prevent the increasingly-frequent hijacking of its postal vans.

Dr Tann is also developing a child-tracking application through either a special clip or a mobile phone download for older children, which is expected to come to market in the new year.

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

One small step for Dr. GPS one giant leap for vehicle tracking ...

FleetM8 PRESS RELEASE: 11th December 2008







ONE SMALL STEP FOR 'DR. GPS' ONE GIANT LEAP FOR VEHICLE TRACKING AS FLEETM8 TEAM UP WITH INDIAN LUNAR SATELLITE COMPANY

NORTH EAST VEHICLE TRACKING TECHNOLOGY FIRM AND INDIAN LUNAR SATELLITE COMPANY TO LAUNCH IN INDIA

In October 2007 North East inventor Dr. Phillip Tann received a speeding ticket from Northumbria Police alleging that he was doing 42mph in a 30mph zone. Fortunately for Dr. Tann his vehicle was fitted with a prototype GPS tracking device that not only recorded the vehicle’s position it also recorded the vehicle’s speed … to six decimal places.

(left) Dr. Tann with the FleetM8 Tracker

The headlines ‘Inventor wins speed camera battle’ went around the world when the Crown Prosecution ‘withdrew the case because the officer who operated the camera had retired.’

In 2008 Dr. Tann teamed up with Motoring Campaigner Neil Herron to develop a version of the highly accurate vehicle tracking device for the mass market and FleetM8 was created using the unique patented technology. FleetM8 not only monitors the vehicle’s speed and location in real time it also provides a full history of a vehicle’s movements for a twelve month period which can be accessed at any time and reports and statistics produced.

A version, known as FleetM8 Solo, has also been developed for the individual motorist and can provide data to challenge speeding and parking fines as well as monitoring driver behaviour. Alerts and reports as well as geo-fencing are all useful benefits for fleets and the individual motorist alike and users of the device report better driver awareness and behaviour as a result.

Because FleetM8 is effectively a ‘black box’ within a vehicle and can prove pre-collision behaviour as well as the immediate location and recovery of stolen vehicles substantial discounts on premiums are available.The company has expanded, taken on a number of employees and re-located from Birtley to South Tyneside with support from South Tyneside Council and Business Link.

In September FleetM8’s Neil Herron and Byron Longstaff went on a UK Trade and Investment Mission to India and met a number of companies who had expressed an interest in working with FleetM8 and the technology and an interest in taking the product to market in India. As a result of this visit SLN Technologies are to partner FleetM8 in India and take FleetM8s revolutionary vehicle tracking device to market in the whole of the Indian sub-continent. SLN Technologies are no stranger to groundbreaking telemetric, tracking and communications technology as they are currently involved with the Indian lunar satellite, Chandrayaan. having worked on the worked on the control system for the Moon Mission, India’s most prestigious project.




















Anil Kumar at SLN Technologies

Anil Kumar, Director of SLN Technologies said: “We are very pleased to be partnering FleetM8 and looking forward to taking this exciting technology to market in India. We anticipate massive demand for the unique product that Dr. Tann has created and it will be highly beneficial to anyone operating any fleets in India, whether it be trucks, tankers, buses or taxis. We believe that the unique, patented technology will revolutionise the GPS tracking industry and we will be working closely with Dr. Tann in taking new ideas forward using his concept.”

Neil Herron, Director of FleetM8 said: “We have experienced a great deal of interest in Dr. Tann’s patented technology from around the world and SLN Technology impressed us with their set up and understanding of the massiveworld potential.. GPS Tracking applications and GPRS data transmission is set to revolutionise the way remote data can be captured, stored, accessed and utilised and we anticipate that it is set to become the fifth utility service. The FleetM8 and FleetM8 Solo Vehicle Trackers are the first application of the technology to be taken to market, but there are a myriad of applications that can use the technology such as child or asset tracking, mapping out your golf round to replay on your home PC. The secret in the technology is the unique and cost effective way that the data is compressed and transmitted and because of this, the technology has the edge over all the other products on the market.”

Dr. Tann, states: “This is one small step for FleetM8 but one giant leap for the GPS tracking industry. Within a few years we anticipate that cars and other vehicles will once again take the lead with the integration of sophisticated technology transmitting data to a remote ‘black box’ at such low cost and volumes that will enable a multitude of applications to be utilised. Just imagine the road networks as a computer network with traffic lights as switches and roundabouts as hubs and we could end up with super-efficient highways and massively reduced congestion … all because the transmission of data is so low that it will enable route optimisation and analysis.”

CONTACT:

Neil Herron
Tel. 0191 5192379
Mob. 07776 202045
http://www.fleetm8.com/

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

Inventor wins Speed Camera battle

SLN Technologies

India launches first Moon mission

Revolutionary Vehicle Tracking Technology launched

A revolutionary, highly accurate, low-cost vehicle tracking system for the motorist is has just hit the market (FleetM8 Solo) ... at an amazingly low price compared to the competition and with a monthly licence of only £6.00!

You can use it to challenge PCNs by showing exactly where you were parked and for how long. This product has multiple uses including monitoring your vehicle in real time as well as historically. Check it out.

A version is also available for companies with multiple vehicles. As well as monitoring vehicles' movements, including on-screen display of speed and location, FleetM8 can also produce numerous reports tailored to a company's individual needs.

Click on the image below to watch the demonstration and find out more. I hope you will be as impressed as I was when I was first introduced to the technology.

Two Speeding Tickets and a Take-Away in three and a half minutes ...

FleetM8 inventor Dr. Tann was alleged to have been doing 42mph in a 30mph zone and proved with his patented technology, that he was doing less than 30mph.
BBC Report here

The Police dropped the case. If Mrs. Whitmore, in the report below, had had the FleetM8 Solo device fitted to her vehicle then she would have been able to access her own data and show exactly what speed she was doing at the time she allegedly did 38mph at the same location ... twice!

However, based on Mrs. Whitmore's details of her journey Dr. Tann was able to retrace the journey using his fitted FleetM8 Solo device and the shortest time he was able to manage was 5 mins and 48 seconds. The journalist reporting below managed 5 minutes and 6 seconds.

Mrs. Whitmore is consulting lawyers in order to fight the case because she faces an automatic ban if convicted.

Mum caught speeding twice in under four minutes
Dec 3 2008
by Sam Wood,
The Journal

A HUNGRY mother was caught speeding twice in three minutes, 23 seconds, by the same camera – and found time to stop for a McDonald’s in between.
On August 22, Gill Whitmore was twice clocked by a mobile camera going at 38mph in a 30 zone on Ryhope Road in Sunderland.



She had travelled a distance of around three-quarters of a mile up and down the road and bought a snack at the Drive Thru hatch in three minutes, 23 seconds, according to the police speed gun.

Miss Whitmore, a single mother from Waldron Square, Hendon, Sunderland, says she will contest the tickets and points.
She already has six points on her licence and would be banned if both the speeding tickets were confirmed.
She is planing to see a solicitor next week to discuss the case.

The 45-year-old, who works as a kitchen assistant at South Moor Secondary School, said: “It is just impossible that I could have driven that distance and been to McDonald’s in that amount of time.
“I had nipped out to get some food for my kids and then I decided to get a sausage and egg McMuffin from McDonald’s.
“A week later I got a letter with two speeding fines. It seems funny to me that they were exactly the same speed as well. I think the camera was faulty.
“The manager has confirmed I went to the Drive Thru that morning and I still have the receipt.
“I need my car to get around and I am prepared to take this all the way to court. If it had just been one ticket I would have accepted it and taken the points but the fact they are so close together makes it impossible for both to have been me.”


Her case has been taken up by Neil Herron, who has tested the route with the equipment designed by Dr Phillip Tann, whose speeding case was dropped by Sunderland magistrates last year.

Mr Herron said: “We have retraced the journey at least half a dozen times using GPS technology to record our speed and the best time we have managed to get is five minutes, 48 seconds.
“To do the route in that time she would have had to drive across verges, cut across islands and speed around the Drive Thru. It is just not possible that she could have got both of those tickets legitimately, unless it is the fastest fast-food restaurant in the world.”

But last night Jeremy Forsberg, of the Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative, which is responsible for the speed cameras, said he stood by the accuracy of the equipment.
He said: “No one has successfully challenged a speed camera in the courts in Northumbria as far as I’m aware. I am totally confident that these cameras work.
“If it goes to court, first we will use the judgment of the officer and then we will rely on the evidence of the camera.
“I can’t comment on the length of time between the two photos but these cameras record speed accurately.”

Last night Oliver Mishcon, a specialist motoring lawyer, said: “This case is another example of how speed cameras are failing to do their job properly.
“Experience and research are beginning to show that they are unreliable at calculating speed.”

Journal reporter Sam Wood showing the time it took to complete the journey taken by Mrs. Whitmore ...
5 minutes and 6 seconds.

END





Leading Motoring lawyer Oliver Mishcon states:

"This is another example of how speed cameras are not doing their job properly.
They are often inaccurate and rarely help to improve road safety. In many cases they actually make drivers behave in a more dangerous manner by slowing down suddenly and speeding up again - concentrating on their speedometers instead of the road.

No wonder motorists are turning to specialist lawyers and technical experts. They feel persecuted by a policy which is motivated by economic factors, and they are often victorious.

Sadly, some do not have the resources for professional advisers, but more and more people are trying to stand up for themselves. I am sure their determination will eventually force a change of policy, so that soon we will see improvements to driver training and more active police patrols on our roads once again. That is the only way we will start to really tackle road safety."