Watch this space for all the latest parking ticket news brought to you by Barrie Segal. On this page you will find the latest stories and news about parking tickets isuued by council and the continual scourge of the penalty charge notice.
News time London:
NEWSFLASH:
Patient recovering from emergency kidney operation gets 10 hospital parking tickets!
Swiftcover.com unearth shocking parking ticket figures!
Good Samaritan gets parking ticket from Wandsworth as he helps unconscious motorcyclist who had crashed his bike! More to follow!
Three Illegal clampers jailed!
COUNCIL TICKETS HOSPITAL MOBILE XRAY VEHICLE. IN ANOTHER CASE COUNCIL TRIES TO COERCE MOTORIST TO DROP APPEAL!!
DTV Personality Donna Air Cleared by Jury in Permit Fraud case.
Car at funeral issued with a penalty charge notice in Edinburgh
After hitting the headlines civil enforcement officer Hakim Berkani wins his employment tribunal case against NSL, parking contractors for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea! To read the more on this amazing story click on NSL found guilty of unfairly dismissing CEO Hakim Berkani
BBC London announces - Westminster abandons proposed West End parking charges! Astonishing climbdown.
Latest News: Boris Johnson urges new Westminster chief not to have a parking "blitz".
First ever parking ticket issued on the island of Inis Mor!
Westminster Council stealth attack removes 1,000 parking spaces on single yellow lines! See what Boris Johnson calls Westminster's actions. _ UPDATE - Colin Barrow Resigns! Westminster council new parking plans!
Hot off the Press: The Government is to introduce additional anti-fraud measures to fight Blue Badge fraud.
Heather Mills' former chauffeur copied her disabled badge and ends up with a court fine!
£840,000 Bugatti gets parking ticket for parkinhg in a disabled bay!
Richmond Council Banning Parking Ticket Spy Cars.
Manchester issues 5000 parking tickets after introduction of new parking restrictionsonster issue
Leicester City Council Cancels its Lord Mayors Parking tickets!
Complaint Lodged with the Council's Standards Committee - read more
Mayor in Lithuania Crushes Illegally Parked Car with a Tank !
Guernsey Parking Attendant issued £500,000 parking fines!
Another USA Authority gets tough on parking fine defaulters!
Topeka unpaid parking tickets reach $650,00
INTERESTING STORIES ADDED RECECENTLY TO OUR WEB PAGES.
You won't belive this but a toy Bus was given a parking ticket in Brighton! Well done Brighton Council and NSL!
Denver Boot used to collect unpaid parking tickets in the USA
An over enthusiastic civil enforcement officer puts penalty charge notice on mobility scooter in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire
Civil Enforcement Officers to strike in Souhampton
Newham Civil Enforcement Officer Drives Wrong Way Down One-Way Street to Issue Parking Tickets!
Hull City Council Costs Motorist £400!
Mother with child locked out of car get a parking ticket!
The Appeal Process and Legislation for Vehicles Towed Away.
A Big Welcome to our friends from Australia who listened to Russell Woolf's Drive Programme!
Legislation update - appeals to the parking adjudicator.
Albany in the USA is issuing more parking tickets!
Vancouver considers UK Style Parking Adjudicators.
50 years of the traffic Warden. Read Saturday's article in the daily Telegraph
Read this extremely important decision on out of order pay and display machines
Councils are looking to increase parking "fines" to £140 per parking ticket. Motorists must be vigilant because this will be another opportunity to issue "dodgy" parking tickets.
Importance of evidence from parking attendant's or civil enforcement officer's notes.
What is going to happen to Atlanta parking ticket fines of $10 million?
Questions and answers have been upated!
Merton council slammed by parking adjudicator and penalty charge notice cancelled!
Parking adjudicator decision where motorist received a PCN leaving a car following a positive breath test.
Read about traffic wardens and parking enforcement in the Virgin Islands.
Appeal decisions in cases where the appellant claimed the penalty charge notices were received after the vehicle taken without consent.
Learn about the forthcoming changes to the London Congestion Charge.
Read about Chicago's Denver Boot ( car clamping ) and Parking Fine policy by clicking Denver Boot and Parking Fine Enforcement in Chicago.
Does taxpayers' money go on civil servants' parking fines and speeding fines? Click here to find out more!
American cities deal with parking tickets - learn how at Parking Ticket News in Pittsburgh.
Beautiful smile and parking tickets! Can a gorgeous smile stop a parking ticket?
Would you be willing to go to prison over a parking ticket - Carry on reading here parking ticket prison sentence!
Read what happened in a New York court case. Read more at New York parking ticket scam
CCTV Parking Ticket Car comes to Plymouth. See what happened here - Plymouth Taxi drivers and the new camera car.
Parking ticket problems happen all over the world. Learn about the Dubai parking ticket mixup.
Parking Ticket Confusion in Aberdeen!Read more at Parking Ticket Confusion in Aberdeen
Chief Adjudicator of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, hits out at councils . Read more at Chief Adjudicator accuses some councils of zero tolerance!
Can hand held parking ticket machines be faked? A parkiing attendant's employment tribunal heard some remarkable claims. To leard more click on Sensational Claims at Employment Tribunal.
Guess which city in the USA has the most expensive parking meter charges in the USA. Do you think the UK's parking meter charges are higher? For more information click on USA parking meter meter charges.
A Milwaukee parking attendant issued a parkig ticket to .....?. For more information click on - They gave a parking ticket to what?
An unusual parking ticket in New York. To learn more click on Unusual New York Parking Ticket.
Parking ticket dispute ends up in court. Find out what happened by clicking Court decision on parking ticket dispute.
Scotish councils caught out by foreign registered cars. Get the latest news by clicking parking ticket for cars registered abroad.
The M4 bus lane is going to be scrapped - learn more by clicking on Bus Lane on M4 to End!
What has happened to the ticket issuing smart car. Click on Smart Car a Hollow Victory?
Even TV Stars get parking tickets - to read what happened to Grey's Anotomy's Ellen Pompeo click on Ellen Pompeo's Parking Ticket
Has Edinburgh illegally issued parking tickets for the last 12 years? See what a former police chief says by clicking on illegally issued parking tickets in Edinburgh?
The Cheapest Parking Ticket? Click here Is this the lowest parking fine ever?
Firefighters in Cornwall handling 999 calls are fed up with being issued with parking tickets. For more on this story click on Firefighters issued with crazy parking tickets!
Councils force CEOs to issue parking tickets when they know that signs are illegal!
Accordinding to the Daily Telegraph Devon County Council insited that Civil Enforcement Officers ("CEOs") issued parking tickets even when the CEOs had warned them that the signs were incorrect! For more on this story click on Parking Ticket Scandal- parking fines issued where signs are known to be illegal!
Durham motorists fined after printing own parking tickets.
Cheating motorists who printed their own parking tickets to save just £3 a day have now been hit with a three-figure fine as soon as they were caught out. For more on this story click Parking Ticket Cheats printed theire own parking permits!
Yoga instructions printed on parking tickets to calm motorists!
A US city is handing out parking tickets with pictures of yoga positions on them in an attempt to calm down angry recipients.
Parking control officers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have been issued with 40,000 of the placatory citations. The tickets have an image of a yoga position on the front of the envelope, with instructions on the reverse on how to implement various moves. For more on this story click on Parking tickets and yoga!
Dubai's Crazy Parking Tickets
Latest Story - you wont believe this!
ILLEGAL PARKING TICKETS!
Here's an important question about Edinburgh City Council. Has the council for the last 12 years been giving out unenforceable and illegal parking tickets ? A former Metropolitan police boss says they have. See what he says by by clicking on Has the council illegally issued parking tickets in Edinburgh?
IS THIS THE STUPIDIST COUNCIL IN THE UK!
According to the Daily Telegraph on three separate occasions Lance Corporal Johno Lee has been turned down by his local council.
The 27-year old, whose heart stopped twice when he injured in Afghanistan, has now had more than £800 in parking fines for leaving his car in disabled bays.
And last month he was forced to hand over the money when a council bailiff arrived at his home threatening to take away his belongings if he didn't pay up.
To add insult to injury Nottinghamshire County Council told him he was "young and may get better" when he first applied for a "blue badge".
"What do they expect – my leg to grow back,?" He said, " I told them they'd didn't quite understand the situation and it was unlikely my leg would grow back."
His right leg was amputated below the knee after he was caught up in an explosion in Helmand Province in 2008.
He has served two tours in Iraq with 2nd Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment prior to deploying to Afghanistan.
He was in a snatch Land Rover on a patrol around Gereshk when an explosion flipped it onto its side, catapulting him into a minefield.
He ordered his comrades not to rescue him until it was safe, so had to spend two hours in the minefield bleeding profusely while bomb disposal experts cut a path to reach him.
He then "died" twice when his heart stopped on the helicopter taking him to Camp Bastion and on the operating table, but he was revived each time.
When he returned to his home in Coddington near Newark, Notts, he applied to the county council for a blue disabled parking badge,
But to his astonishment his claim was turned down – as were two further applications.
UPDATE: According to The Council they have no record of the aplication(s) but have now issued a parking permit which will be delivered to him this evening.
COUNCIL WORKMEN DRAW THE LINE AT DRAWING LINES!
Hampshire County Council workmen who were painting white lines on a road left a gap for a dead badger because they said it was not their responsibility to move it.
The animal had been killed about a week or so before on the A338 near Downton, on the Hampshire-Wiltshire border.
The County Council said the workers did what they thought "was best" because it is the district council's job to remove carcasses.
The badger has now been removed and the painting will be completed on Friday.
CCTV SMART CAR GETS TOWED - MORE TO FOLLOW
More to come here!
CAMDEN COUNCIL GUILTY OF PREJUDICING MOTORISTS AT PATAS PARKING TICKET APPEALS!!
In a landmark case at PATAS Barrie Segal has won a decisions that Camden Council have prejudiced appellants at PATAS hearings. For more click on Camden Guilty and Shamed Over Parking Ticket Appeals .
Moving Traffic Signs Unenforceable - Millions of Pounds illegally collected by Councils.
For the full story read the press Release - Millions of Pounds of Illrgal Moving PCNs collected by Councils
Lambeth - Eight Staff Under Investigation
Lambeth council have 98 staff under investigation for "breach of trust" in relation to allegations that council staff in charge of deciciding the outcome of parking appeas have deled fines for friends and family.
Crooked council workers have avoided heavy fines by letting themselves off parking tickets, a town hall whistleblower has claimed.
A member of staff at Lambeth Council exposed the actions of an unknown number of workers from the town hall’s parking monitoring team who have allegedly been cancelling their own penalty charge notices(PCNs).
The corrupt practice within the team that is supposed to oversee the parking fine appeals process allegedly took place up to April this year, but only emerged in a whistleblowing report published last week by the town hall.
Other allegations against staff included misuse of emergency parking badges, which employees had been using outside their own homes or when out shopping.
For the full story go to Lambeth Parking Ticket Investigation in the Matt Watts' article in the Local Guardian.
Watch this space for more.
EALING YELLOW BOX JUNCTIONS ILLEGAL
An urgent review of all yellow box junctions in Ealing is underway and some motorists caught at an incorrectly marked junction in Greenford are being offered refunds.
An independan review has been order by which will look at whether all junctions are marked out correctly, and the Department for Transport will also be asked to work with the council.
Councillor Mahfouz said:
“Nobody is denying that we need yellow boxes to keep traffic moving, but many problems have come to light over recent years. For months residents have been telling me how concerned they are about this issue. Motorists no longer have any confidence in these yellow boxes, which is why my first decision as cabinet member was to launch a review.
“In April there was yet another case where there was a technical problem with a yellow box junction in Greenford. Although enforcement was suspended while the problem was resolved, this can’t go on. I hope we can now draw a double yellow line under this issue and start afresh.
“I have been assured that all junctions now meet the guidance, but if the review reveals any problems at all, enforcement will be immediately suspended while any issues are urgently addressed. I have also been told processes have been improved to prevent problems from reoccurring, but if there are any problems in the future officers will be held to account if mistakes are made.”
The council will now be cancelling any unpaid tickets from the Otter Road/Greenford Road yellow box junction issued for offences before 30 April – the date the council suspended enforcement at the junction. The council will also refund anyone who received a ticket at that junction, but paid it after 30 April.
A local resident has been in touch with us to say how delighted he is to hear this news. His wife was photographed at the junction and they were in the process of appealing.
He says guidelines state that the council have to consult the police before installing a junction with cameras, but they discovered (through a freedom of information request) that this hadn't been done. He describes the announcement as a 'comprehensive victory' for drivers all round.
The council has set up a special email address for anybody who thinks that they may be entitled to a refund - OtterRoadRefunds@ealing.gov.uk or alternatively customers can phone 020 8825 6677.
PRIVATE PARKING TICKET ROW.
CLICK ON PRIVATE PARKING TICKET ROW TO READ THE WHOLE AMAZING STORY!
MOTORIST SUCESSFULLY SUES CLAMPING COMPANY IN COURT VICTORY!
More to follow!
DICK TURPIN RIDES AGAIN AS CAMDEN COUNCIL SNATCH £134,000 in EASTER PARKING FINES!
Modern day Dick Turpin, Camden Council in North London have had to agreed to repay £134,000 parking fines which they issued to drivers for parking on single yellow lines on Good Friday and Easter Monday.
It appears at the last minute they announced on their website that they would enforce single yellow lines on Good Friday and Easter Monday. In previous years they had not enforced single yellow lines on those days.
What is scandalous is that the only warning that civil enforcement officers would be eforcing single yellow lines was a small notice on the council's website announcing that normal yellow line restrictions would apply for the apply for the Easter holidays.
Civil enforcement officers issued a mind boggling 1,119 PCNs totalling £134,280!!
The Daily Telegraph quotes me as saying "This is like Dick Turpin being caught with his hands down the motorists' pocket.
It is disgraceful that the council, one of the largest in the country, could stoop to that sort of activity announcing it surreptitiously on the internet and sending out its scavengers to catch unsuspecting motorists."
Barrie's Comment: Frankly this astonish mess requires a full and transparent enquiry and if heads need to roll so be it. It beggars belief that anyone could have been so stupid as to have set this up in this way.
Amongst the victims of this highway robbery was a University College London Hospitals doctor, who was ticketed as whilst he was working d in the A&E department .
According to the council motorists who paid their fines by credit or debit card will have the money automatically refunded to their account.
Others who paid by cheque or cash will have apply for their money back .
Here is what Sam Monck, assistant director Public Realm and Sustainability (What on earth does that mean?) at Camden Council, said: "Our traffic orders, relating to single yellow lines, make it clear that we can issue tickets over the bank holiday weekends.
However in recent years, Camden has on a discretionary basis taken the decision as a gesture of goodwill not to issue parking tickets to cars parked on single yellow lines on Good Friday and Bank Holiday Monday."
He went on to say: "Over the Easter period this year, we did enforce parking regulations and displayed this information on our website, but realise that many motorists may have been confused by the inconsistency." - ( Talk about the glaringly ovbvious!)
Given the history of non-enforcement we have taken the decision to cancel or refund any parking tickets issued on Good Friday and Easter Monday."
Andrew Marshall, the council's Conservative deputy leader, said: "Camden Council got it wrong in terms of enforcing single yellow lines on Easter bank holidays. Camden Council will now communicate clearly in the run-up to the next bank holiday that we are NOT enforcing single yellow lines."
Note: Camden Council has promised that in future, drivers will be able to park on single yellows on bank holidays.
SWEARING UNCIVIL ENFORCEMENT OFFICER SUSPENDED BY NSL AFTER BEING CAUGHT SWEARING ON FILM!
A swearing UEO (Uncivil Enforcement Officer) was suspnded by NSL after being caught on camera sweaing at a motorist. The Westminster council CEO is caught shouting at Warren Djangoly and making obscene comments about his wife during the incident New Cavendish Street in London's West End.The film which was posted on Youtube is incredibly gaphic - the link is here but do watch out the language is disgraceful and vile!. ***
Tim Cowen the NSL spokesman Tim Cowen said the warden’s language was “shocking” and an investigation had been launched.
Mr. Cowen added: “The civil enforcement officer in question has been removed from the Westminster operation and suspended while that investigation takes place.
“Behaviour like this is not acceptable and would usually result in dismissal if the case is proven.”
Barrie says: "Mr. Cowen - it's proved because it's on camera. Why is this man still working for you? This surely rates instant dismissal."
I wonder if readers have had similar problems with civil enforcement officers. Have you ever received a penalty charge notice in these circumatances?
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WESTMINSTER COUNCIL HAVE STARTED ISSUING A MASSIVE NUMBER OF CCTV ISSUED PENALTY CHARGE NOTICES.
In an unprecendented move Westminster Council have started issuing tons of CCTV issued Penalty Charge Notices.
Given that the Department for Transport only recommends that CCTV be used to issue PCNs if it is not practical for CEOs to issue them Westminster will need to justify this action.
GROUNDBREAKING DECISION ON PARKING TICKETS ON 26TH DECEMBER 2009.
In a decision at the London Parking Adjudicator adjudicator Carl Teper told the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea to cancel a parking ticket on Saturday 26th December 2009 and refund the clamping charge.
Here is the story:
Alexey Andreev and his wife Elena had driven to Onslow Gardens in Kensington the day after Christmas (26th December 2009) and found a sign on the pay and display meter stating: “Free parking on public and bank holidays.”
The couples car was clamped for failing to pay at a parking meter by that heartless bunch at Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea council.
At the adjudication hearing adjudicator Carl Teper said" The authority argued that whenever Boxing Day falls on Saturday the bank holiday is on the following Monday instead.
The appellant's case is he understood the sign to mean he could park freely on Boxing Day, Saturday 26 December, 2009.
I find the words on the machine are sufficiently ambiguous to confuse a motorist when parking on a Boxing Day that falls on a Saturday as to whether charges are required.
If the authority wishes to enforce charges on Boxing Day when it falls on a Saturday, the machine should clearly state so."
Mealy mouthed Kensington & Chelsea said “We do not agree with the adjudicator's findings but will abide by his decision and consider if changes should be made in the future." [Barrie's Note: What do they mean if changes should be made? Of course they should. Councils have a legal responsibility to act fairly and they MUST changeall their signs. They should also refund all the PPCNs which were paid in similar circumstances. If you got a PCN in these circumstances write to the council demanding your money back!]
For the full story by David Williams, Motoring Correspondent of the Evening Standard click on Boxing Day Parking Ticket Farce!
Were you caught out and paid a PCN. Do you want to claim your money back then click on Boxing Day Parking Ticket Refund Claim Template.
ILLEGAL CAMERAS MAKE MORE THAN 5,000 MANCHESTER BUS LANE TICKETS UNENFORCEABLE AND AVAILABLE FOR REFUNDS.
More than 5,000 bus lane fines sent to motorists for driving in bus lanes in Greater Manchester are ellegal.
The city council has admitted that some the camers it used to enforce the bus lane did not have the proper certification after 24 December 2008.
The city council had been examining fines after more than 18,000 penalties which were paid between October 2006 and May 2007 were found to be illegal last year.
Any motorists who are affected by these new bus lane fines and the earlier fines should contact the council about a refund.
Here are the contact details.
Email: parking@manchester.gov.uk
Telephone: General enquires: 0161 234 4111; Bus Lane enquires: 0161 954 9004
Fax: 0161 234 4035
Street Managment and Parking services, PO box 585, Albert Square, Manchester, M60 3NZ
NORTHERN IRELAND PARKING ATTENDANTS COST DOUBLE THE AMOUNT OF THE FINES RAISED!
Figures obtained by SDLP assembly member John Dallat for last year show that the Department for Regional Development paid more than £8m to a private company called NSL to run the parking enforcement service.
However in the same period it recived more than £4m in fines and car parking charges.
Mr. Dallat said the expense of the scheme had been increasing and that it must now be "controlled".
"This appears to be an excessive amount of money and over the past two years the cost of this scheme has increased by 20%," he said.
"Clearly the expense of this scheme needs to be controlled otherwise it become an albatross around the neck of the Department of Regional Development which is already experiencing unprecedented financial strain."
NSL said "Since the NSL contract commenced in 2006, surveys have shown that illegal parking has reduced by up to 65% in town centres and 25% on main routes into Belfast. Reduced illegal parking reduces congestion, improves safety and makes it easier to find a parking space in town centres."
Joe McCann a car rental driver has lost his job and been fined for hitting a parking attendant on the head during a row in Edinburgh.
The BBC reports that Mr. McCann who worked for Hertz was moving cars outside his place of work when parking attendant Darren Sharp ticked two cars which were on yellow lines.
Mr. McCann at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, admittedat hitting Mr Sharp on 22 August 2009 during a row about the tickets on 22 August 2009.
Mr. McCann was fined £100 and ordered to pay Sharp £200.
Mr. McCann subsequently lost his job as a result of the conviction.
[Barrie's comments: This type of behaviour is completely unacceptable. There is no justification whatsover. Any conversation with a parking arrendant or civil enforcement officer should always be conducted in a calm way. If you think or suspect that you will not act calmly then don't have any conversation. Just go home and write your appeal. It's the safe and sensible way.]
Councils in Scotland may soon have power to increase their parking tickets from the current £60. Watch this space.d that not only do councils issue parking tickets to motorists they also them against their own vehicles.
I discovered that not only do councils issue parking tickets to motorists they also them against their own vehicles.
Astonishingly councils are often so determined to get their money that they pursue the cases against themselves that they appeal to the Parking Adjudicator.
But the winner of the Craziest Parking Ticket Award this year must be Islington Council. In an Alice in Wonderland scenario Islington Council (Case number 2070232277) appealed to the Parking Adjudicator between June and September 2007.
In this case Islington Council had not only issued a parking ticket to itself, but then chased itself all the way to the Parking Adjudicator and then asked for costs against itself! (The Alice in Wonderland scene cntinues because to ask for costs the council must believe that it acted wholly unreasonably or vexatiously against itself!) For more click on Isligton Council's crazy Parking Ticket Mess ->
THis story has now gone around the world to New Zealand, Germany ( The Financial Times) and Holland to name just a few.
The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea lose £640,000 on towing and clamping vehicles.
According to the Daily Express The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea lose £640,000 on towing and clamping vehicles. This is a really astonishing revelation and councilors need to justify this action.
Jump to the news item about Kensington & Chelsea
For the full article click this link.
The Fraud Fraud Probe at Westminster Council has been dropped.
Don't forget our main parking ticket information page!
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