"Martin Underwood" wrote in message
...
wrote in message
...
In uk.legal Carlos wrote:
I parked in a pay-and-display area at 17:05. Put ?1 in the machine
(charge
is ?1/hr) and the ticket came out valid until 17:30 after which time
parking
is free. The signage also confirmed that parking is chargeable only
between
09:00 - 17:30.

Came back to find a parking ticket, time-stamped at 17:36.

Clearly the parking attendant was trying it on, aware that a certain
percentage probably just pay up. But I want to make a stand and sue the
council for wasting my time. Would I be reasonable in charging a ?50
admin
charge for having to issue an explanatory note..?


Hmmm, by paying 1 pound for an hour at 17:05 you should get an hour's
parking therefore your ticket should be valid until 9:35 the following
morning if the chargeable time is until 17:30 (Every car-park that I've
ever
used near the end of the paid-for time has issued me with such a ticket
though I don't know if it's universal).

As for making a stand, what's the point? Maybe a mistake has been made?
Have
you never made a mistake? Just send a note back with the evidence and you
will surely get the ticket rescinded.

But traffic wardens are paid to be conversant with the rules in the bays
that they "police". If the warden is making mistakes then, at best, he/she
needs to be educated better, which is a training issue for their employer;
at worst, the warden is being malicious, in which case it is a
disciplinary matter for their employer.

I once received a ticket for parking legally - I returned to my car within
the hour's free parking time, to find a ticket. The warden was nearby so I
asked him to explain. "You've been there for over an hour," he said. When
I asked to see written evidence of the time that he'd first recorded my
car's presence, he blushed, waffled and said that "maybe I've made a
mistake". I reported the matter to Oxford County Council (the warden's
employer) but I never heard any more. I hope he was severely bollocked or
even sacked for "trying it on".


Until all councils remove the bonus incentive of issuing tickets, then there
will always be wardens trying it on.
Just like the builder who is paid by the hour. The longer he can stay on the
job, the more he will earn.

S