Drivers who leave more than one pay-and-display ticket on their car windows will be fined

Published 27th Jan 2010

Drivers who 'pay and display' to park their cars are being fined if they leave earlier tickets showing on their windscreen.

Council traffic wardens are exploiting a legal loophole to penalise motorists who have paid but simply forgot to remove a previous stub from their dashboard or window.

If wardens, or parking attendants, can see more than one ticket, they can fine the motorist.

Critics have accused greedy council chiefs of seizing on 'pernicious' technicalities to punish drivers unfairly, in spite of pledges from ministers that town halls should not use their parking powers as a moneymaking scheme.

At present, 265 councils have powers to enforce parking and keep the proceeds under a system known as 'decriminalisation' which handed over control from the police to local authorities.

The clause imposing a fine on drivers showing multiple pay and display tickets is contravention number nine in a list of parking offences.

For example, the City of London Corporation's website says: 'It is a requirement that only a single ticket is displayed. If more than one ticket is visible, the civil enforcement officer will issue a penalty charge notice and it is unlikely that we will withdraw it.'

The fines can range from £120 in the heart of London to £70 outside the capital with a 50 per cent discount if paid within 14 days.

Parking expert Barrie Segal, who runs the AppealNow website, condemned the latest example of councils using their powers to fleece motorists.

He said: 'This type of enforcement is pernicious. No traffic has been blocked or delayed and no pedestrian has been endangered and yet the council will issue a parking ticket.

'It is this type of enforcement which convinces motorists that it is not about traffic congestion, traffic flow or safety but just old-fashioned greed to line the council's coffers.'

Most motorists simply forget to remove old pay and display tickets, he noted.

Last year councils raised £328million in parking fines, three times the amount collected by speed camera partnerships.

Complaints from motorists over fines for petty infringements, such as displaying a disabled badge upside down, have soared in recent months.

Motorists have also been fined when their pay and display ticket has fallen off the windscreen or dashboard. Such fines are routinely upheld by appeal adjudicators, even if the driver produces the voucher afterwards.

Motorists can also be fined for parking more than 19.6in (50cm) from the kerb.

The AA criticised the councils' interpretation of the rules.

A spokesman said: 'It is one thing if somebody is being clever and plastering their windscreen with old pay and display tickets, it is rather different when somebody was in a hurry and forgot to remove an old voucher. There has to be some sense of proportion.'

The Department for Transport said the rule was intended to make sure all motorists were treated fairly.

A spokesman said: 'Where parking spaces are in short supply, "no return" restrictions may be in place to stop people from monopolising a parking space for a long period of time.

'It is specifically in these cases that rules apply to prevent people from adding a second ticket to extend the amount of time they can park beyond the maximum allowed.'

Source: ' Daily Mail '

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