parking ticket (again!)

[Ade B]

sodding Westminster!

Drive into the Soho to spend a couple of hours on site going through final details (all our drawings have mysteriously disappeared ) Park up in a space in Great Marlborough Street behind another car - check for parking suspension notices, none about, check for residents only signs, none about - spot a meter sign over the road (not applicable on Sunday) leave the car, noticing a broken lamppost next to the spaces....

Come back 3 hours later - £60 ticket, I'm parked in a residents only space

I've taken photos showing the lack of signage but I expect that I'll won't win the appeal.... may as well just hand over my cash every time I park...

****, ****, ****, ****...


Ade

 

[Dieselman]

Bad luck there. Surely if there is no signage how are you supposed to know.

Where's Robert when you need him..?

 

[robert.saunders]

If you can prove where you parked in the the zone and the subsequent bay doesn't have a plate indicating Resident parking then take it all the way past informal challenge (Westminster will likely reject your initial appeal anyway) to a formal tribunal at PATAS. You do lose your discount if you have to pay but if you're adamant there is no signage then you have nuffin' to lose

 

[Sp!ke]

(Westminster will likely reject your initial appeal anyway)

Does anyone else think this attitude is so so wrong?

There doesnt seem to be anything to deter authorities from doing this, no awarding of costs for wasting peoples time, no penalty for incorrectly issuing the ticket and absolutely no comebacks for chasing after the alleged penalty right up to the wire, often in the full knowledge that the ticket was invalid.

They just rely on inertia. Is it really worth fighting a £60 ticket when it'll take 3 hours of letter writing and probably end up with having to go to the appeals tribunal in person, costing further time and transport costs? If people could submit a bill for costs, it would stop this nonsence and force the parking enforcement industry to clean up their act.

 

[Dieselman]

Does anyone else think this attitude is so so wrong?

Yes, seems fair comment. As you say there is no reason for them to bother giving this due consideration.

Maybe if they had to pay a small compensation if an appeal wins at final appeal that might make them work a bit harder.

 

[robert.saunders]

What I meant was they will likely reject the informal appeal/challenge as they're not obliged to respond, which I imagine is due to the sheer numbers of PCN issued for that area

They do have to respond to a formal representation, that's where I agree they are also likely to reject forcing the motorist to pay or tribunal. At that stage however, I would always advise to go 'all the way' to the tribunal - if the signage is wrong they will pull it. Does it fix the problem though? No - and that's fundamentally flawed if they continue to enforce against unlawful restrictions (of which, in this case, I have no idea if the signage is present or otherwise, it's just my conjecture)

I agree the system in itself is not overly fair, despite assertions that it is (from the DfT, authorities, tribunal etc etc); I also hate the discount option, it should never exist. The fine should be a set amount nationwide (why should it be higher in London?)

 

[jaymanek]

I went through this in a nearby area... i sent a letter off with a load of photos.. they sent me a letter saying they were investigating it and I never heard anything ever after that... maybe 5 or 6 years ago..

 

[Ade B]

Recent experience with Westminster has not been good, and I expect if I appeal again it will be rejected and I will have to take it further, as they will simply state that I was parked on a residents' bay, which is I suppose is true, despite the absence of signage.

I haven't the energy or time for this at the moment, so will simply moan about it on here and take the fine


Ade

 

[jaymanek]

yes i guess £60 is not worth the hassle.. unfortunately they do play on that a little..

 

[Ade B]

Someone has actually reversed over the hire bike this afternoon whilst it was parked near the office

they managed to break the screen and surrounding plastic amongst other bits.. I'm starting to wonder if someone is trying to tell me something... there wasn't even a note, just the bike parked up with a neat pile of bits on the seat...

Ade

 

[esox]

OK,sorry to bring up another parking issue,(yawn...),but i`ve just got a ticket which i think is borderline?

The road in question is a `C` class residential street.
Outside approx a dozen houses there is an extra-wide pavement/parking area (dropped kerb all along until it raises to the corner of a side-road where it becomes all pavement/no room for car parking).

There are double yellows which have been recently painted on the corner which extend alongside the `extra-wide pavement/parking` by one parking space.
I was parked on this one space,along side the double-yellows but not on the road .......

A bit like this;


.............................................................................


pavement/parking ******my car here****
corner------->


.............................................................................
........................ .{========double yellow===========


Can they ticket me even though i wasn`t actually parked on the road?

 

[robert.saunders]

Yellow lines extend from the centre of the highway to the outer edge of the highway boundary.

In normal terms, as an example, they would cover the side of the road where the lines are, the kerb, the verge (grass), the footway (pavement) etc etc to the point where the highway generally meets private property (for example edge of your driveway etc etc).

Rule of thumb for what is and isn't highway: if the council maintain it, the general rule is it's highway.