London Parking Fine

[sharkymoran]

Received a parking fine the other day which landed on my windscreen a full 3 minutes after my ticket had expired! Furthermore the car registration number on the ticket is a letter out from my own registration.

Couple of questions for you all. Is there a grace period (say 5 mins) to allow for differences between the parking attendants time and my watch?

As the registration is different does this deem the ticket invalid? The attendant took photo's of the car including registration plate so I can't just ignore it, or can I? also I wouldn't like some other poor sod getting hassled for non payment.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated, I'll also post this in the law section.

[CSG2306]

Hi,

You will receive all the advice straight from the horses mouth here.

http://www.askthe.police.uk/content/SubmitQues tion.mth

Regards

[markar]

Unfortunately they have got the photo...

[homerthegrea]

Same thing happened to me in Darlington in May this year, i phoned the police and informed them that the reg number on my car was different to that on the ticket, i explained that a photo was taken but i argued that there was no photographic eviedence that the parking meter had expired and therefore could not be used in court. I was requested to write to the chief constable, which i did and he wrote a nice letter back saying sorry for the mistake. No fine to pay. At the end of the day the photo means nothing, the warden has issued a ticket for a different car, you will not have to pay.

[mr rusty]

It depends on which borough you were in. Most Boroughs now have parking control run by private contractors: NOT the Police, the days of a police controlled warden giving you a few minutes grace are now long gone- you were very lucky they didn't clamp or just lift the car the second the time ran out- that's what happens in some boroughs; I work in Waltham Forest and it happens all the time outside my office window!!!

It may be different in Darlington where presumeably the Police are still involved in parking, but in London these companies will pursue you with religeous fervour. They have photos- this is what they use for evidence, plus no doubt they'll drag up some CCTV evidence as well-I would suggest you just pay the fine. You can fight it, it'll cost you time and stress, and in the end they'll still very likely win.

Another thing to watch out for now, particularly in Barking and also Newham, is that they no longer even need a warden on the ground- the tickets are now issued using purely CCTV evidence. Pull over onto a yellow line, and the photos and fine notification appear through the post a week later- don't ask me how I know!!

[Grunty]

I wonder if I could make a small suggestion. In the past, Answerbank members have expressed their frustration when the same question appears in two or more different sections. They may have spent some time preparing a reply, and then find that someone else has given virtually the same answer. They would then be less likely to answer any further question, in case the same thing happens. I would think most people who read the Law section go on to read Motoring.

[homerthegrea]

In london the ticket might not be issued by the police, so therefore contact the local court and fight your case, it's only a court that can issue a fine not the ticketing company.

[Coobeastie]

If the vehicle registration is wrong appeal against the fine, it'll be invalid.

[sharkymoran]

Thank you all for your sound and very helpful advice. I will go down the appeal route taking your advice on board and see how things pan out.

Grunty, a valid point and I agree with you 100%. I'll keep that in mind for future questions.

[mr rusty]

Quote-"In london the ticket might not be issued by the police, so therefore contact the local court and fight your case, it's only a court that can issue a fine not the ticketing company. "

In London unfortunately this isn't the case- parking offences are decriminalised, which is why it causes so much grief in London. The courts only get involved when the parking companies extra enforcement- baillifs and the like.

[Compostella]

Have a look at

http://www.appealnow.com