I'll go to jail says OAP parking ticket rebel

Sheer idiocy of the most opportunistic money-grabbing kind.

It's events like this which inspire a sheer bloody hatred towards the powers that be in this country, a complete lack of transparency and an apparent contempt for the general populace which they're all too willing to tax out of existence is forever portrayed.

Personally I think the local authorities who embark on these highly unnecessary blatant misapplications of 'civil offences' require a very strongly administered kick up the arse. For too long the authorities have simply been allowed to get away with whatever takes their fancy in this country and they're really dragging Britain down with them.

Now is the time to start making your voices heard out there and now is the time to start defending our own interests against the powers that be in this country. Otherwise it'll be too late...They need to be told enough simply is enough.

My heart goes out to the OAP so unfortunately caught up in this pathetic row induced purely by the greed of his local authority, and I sincerely hope he wins his case.

The onus should be on the council to declare any change of policy whatsoever which has a direct impact on the lives of people, they simply shouldn't be allowed to make entirely random arbitrary changes such as this designed purely to catch people out.

Richmond council themselves have embarked on a similar tactic more recently as regards bike parking which has caught out many people who've used the same entirely reasonable out of the way parking spot for years without incident. 'Scum' would be the operative term.

Posted: 30/09/2008 at 08:19

Posted: 30/09/2008 at 08:34

Hope the fellow gets an understanding judge at the hearing.  These money grabbing local authorities need to be put in their place.

Posted: 30/09/2008 at 08:40

Exactly.

Completely unscrupulous undercover cowboys is how I'd define the approach to parking 'enforcement' in this country.

In reality as has been exposed by various investiations and documentaries the highly exploitative nature of the process is clear for all to see, and yet we simply tolerate it.

The best possible thing for any 'proud' recipient of a ticket is to simply appeal and appeal again, in the first instance make an informal appeal on receipt (if they even bother to issue you with one...) of the PCN to the authority, secondly the formal approach and if that still is rejected then take it to the PATAS Parking and Traffic Appeals adjudicators who will really kick some butt on your behalf.

As is typical for Westminster Council, very far from the espouser of proud British virtues despite being at the heart of the British capital, they will capitulate at the last second in order to avoid costs. 

So my advice would be to appeal all three times, the likelihood a so-called 'procedural error' will arise somewhere through this which will excuse you anyway as the system is that poorly enforced (i.e. they wilfully ignore their own codes of practice.)

If nothing else appealing costs the authority money, and the more expense rendered upon them the better I would suggest. As this is the only logic these dull, stupid bureaucrats understand.

I haven't had to pay for a single PCN issued to me over the last 3 years while working as a courier, some 30 plus tickets easily all of which were entirely illegal. And illegal is the operative term here.

How to appeal is detailed here, there are even case studies you can follow, you can find generally all the parking regulations and requirements on the internet and the success stories. Beat them at their own game.

http://www.parkingandtrafficappeals.gov.uk/

Also, for not a lot of money, you can appeal through people such as these who will draft a probably successful appeal for you:

http://www.ticketbusters.co.uk/

Smash the system while you still can.

Posted: 30/09/2008 at 09:32

Posted: 30/09/2008 at 13:59

We're becoming a degenerate society with a repressive, over-bureaucratic government at the helm.

Posted: 30/09/2008 at 16:13

Posted: 30/09/2008 at 16:52

It's a dictatorship we've brought on ourselves because the majority of people in this country just shrug their shoulders, sigh & carry on like sheep every time we get shafted or lose another civil liberty.

  There had my daily rant.

Posted: 30/09/2008 at 20:03