[Archived] Parking Tickets

[benhben]

Got a parking ticket (again!) today. On closer inspection they have recorded my number plate wrong, by getting two numbers the wrong way around (eg real number would be S980 they have recorded S890). Will I still have to pay this or will the ticket be classed as void, and should be ignored.

They wont have any contact details for me will they apart from the incorrect reg. Surely when they trace their recorded plate it will bring up a different car which does not match the description.

Anyone got any more info on incorectly recorded tickets?

[mellison24]

Got a parking ticket (again!) today. On closer inspection they have recorded my number plate wrong, by getting two numbers the wrong way around (eg real number would be S980 they have recorded S890). Will I still have to pay this or will the ticket be classed as void, and should be ignored.

They wont have any contact details for me will they apart from the incorrect reg. Surely when they trace their recorded plate it will bring up a different car which does not match the description.

Anyone got any more info on incorectly recorded tickets?

I had similar with and S28 (recorded as S82) and haven't heard since. You got away with it methinks.

[dazmaz]

Got a parking ticket (again!) today. On closer inspection they have recorded my number plate wrong, by getting two numbers the wrong way around (eg real number would be S980 they have recorded S890). Will I still have to pay this or will the ticket be classed as void, and should be ignored.

They wont have any contact details for me will they apart from the incorrect reg. Surely when they trace their recorded plate it will bring up a different car which does not match the description.

Anyone got any more info on incorectly recorded tickets?

if thats the case its not your car meaning you dont have to pay. just make sure you keep hol of it for proof incase they ask for more, but im pretty sure you dont have to pay

[benhben]

if thats the case its not your car meaning you dont have to pay. just make sure you keep hol of it for proof incase they ask for more, but im pretty sure you dont have to pay

Well how would they ever contact me? Wont have any of my details apart from that reg....which isnt mine!

[stuwilky]

Id imagine that it depends if they have taken a photo, and if they have whether or not they ever get round to checking it.

[thenodrog]

Beware they do record everything on photographs now. Leave it to them to contact you.

Personally speaking I have NOT been in to nor spent a penny in Blackburn centre since March 4th when I received a totally and completely unjustified parking ticket for parking on a BwD car park. I appealed with complete and total justification yat those tawts chose quite wrongly to uphold it! So in a nutshell BBurn centre / shops / councill etc etc have lost my business and my money and thats that.... basically they can (Please don't use that word again) right off!

Motorists driving from the outskirts into town by definition have more spending power than the average so if the council wants to openly persecute and in fact target that sector in the light of the lengths that Preston have done to attract local shoppers then they do so entirely at their own risk. I have always lived by the rule that if you get kicked you must kick back harder!

2 years or so ago I suggested to Bburns Councillor in charge of regeneration Alan Cottam that each household that pays the council tax in full and within the due date should receive a complimentary parking disc but he said that would not happen cos the concill needs the revenue from the meters. Blackburn shopping centre and market sadly is halfway down the toilet already so I guess we'll just have to see where the councill's jackbooted attitude and brazen persecution of motorists ultimately gets em won't we?

[Ozz]

I think Stu is on the money-If it was traffic Wise then then always take a photo of your plate, so they will be able to hunt you down. I used to try and dodge paying for parking, but they are so on the ball in Chorley you cannot get away with it. Pay up and learn your lesson !

[Hughesy]

All on pictures.

They might let you off due to the error, but very unlikely.

[Sparky Marky]

I find that if you send them a letter asking for a reply and then send another asking for something else...they soon lose interest....cos none of em know what they're doing. Just gets lost in the system.

[benhben]

So what should I do?

Wait for them to contact me and inform them of their error? I don't want to end up paying 50 quid rather than 25, but if I can get away with it, stuff em.

As for the photos? I parked in a local car park where there aren't usually any wardens thinking I would be ok. Would simple parking violations like this still be recorded with a photo?

[Sparky Marky]

First job is to write into them saying that the reg concerned isn't yours and that you don't know anybody with that reg.......they'll then send another letter saying they made a typing error....then you send another asking for photo proof......by then they'll be so confused that they'll waive the fine..

[Flopsy]

"I appealed with complete and total justification yat those tawts chose quite wrongly to uphold it!"

Which suggests you were in the wrong. Get over yourself

[1864roverite]

To make it easier for you.

IF THE TICKET IS INCORRECTLY COMPLETED THEN IT IS INVALID AND CANNOT BE ENFORCED.

[thenodrog]

First job is to write into them saying that the reg concerned isn't yours and that you don't know anybody with that reg.......they'll then send another letter saying they made a typing error....then you send another asking for photo proof......by then they'll be so confused that they'll waive the fine..

I'd take this advice. Write to em asking for a written reply a couple of times and the matter usually disappears. I don't think they like written correspondence too much for some reason.

[thenodrog]

Did you have a valid parking ticket displayed in your windscreen?

Yes of course. (My offence was apparently not parking in a bay despite the fact that I was not parked straddling a bay and was not parked on an area marked in yellow. In fact the ticket had been purchased at 11.35am and placed properly in the car, when I got back within the allotted time I found that the Traffic Warden DB9 had written out his ticket, issued it and photographed ny car also at 11.35am. It seems that either some long dead Time Lord from Gallifried is now employed by the council OR the bstard was hiding in wait. Which do you think it was El Tombro?

btw Flopsy..... Why are you choosing to comment in that manner when you know sweet FA of the circumstances?

[Tris]

So what should I do?

Wait for them to contact me and inform them of their error? I don't want to end up paying 50 quid rather than 25, but if I can get away with it, stuff em.

If you contest it in writing (for any reason at all) before the date when they double the fine from 25 to 50, they are obliged to hold the fine at the lower amount until they respond to your letter.

I got a parking ticket off Ealing council just before I moved back up north from London. I was supposedly parked on a restricted area but the yellow lines weren't visible on the road and there was no signage to indicate any restriction.

I went back up there the same afternoon and took pictures of the mark-free road, including a couple of pics of a traffic warden walking past a vehicle parked exactly where I had been, without issuing a ticket!

Sent them a two page response with the best of the pics - recorded delivery. It took them nearly 4 months to write back - and it was simply a standard reply, no reference to the challenge or the pics.

So I printed the original letter again, with a copy of their response, and a new covering letter which contained one short sentance - read the first letter and look at the pics - and fired that off recorded delivery.

Never heard from them again.

In your case, I'd challenge them on something other than your unenforcable ticket due to the mistake with the reg number - just make up a nonsense and get the challenge in. It buys you round one, and perhaps a month or two while they process it.

Then when they respond to that, fire in a letter that says you believe they can't enforce the ticket due to the wrong reg number being on it. They will probably give up by then, and if they don't you will have had until next year to save up the #25!

[thenodrog]

I think it was a simple bloke earning a commission

This is the Blackburn Mall we're talking about, right? Last time I went it was rammed because of the rennovation works but I didn't park in a bay. I parked at the side of the wall, like some others did, without any problems.

If they're going to let that many cars in for the £££s when there's not enough parking bays then they need to be lenient.

Barton Street car park behind Mercers old shop on Northgate.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

You're in the wrong so pay up.

Serves you right for getting a ticket.

[ABBEY]

ive had two tickets ripped up ,both in bolton.One was because it had been spelt with LY and LEY. the othe rwas because the double yellow was missing a bar at the end and some yellow paint was missing on one the lines.

[benhben]

Apparently my dad has been speaking with a trafic warden, and they said to just ignore the ticket. Apparently they do take photos, but when they find that the ticket hasnt been paid and come to chase it up, they will find it doesnt match and ignore it.

I hope thats the case anyway!

[LeftWinger]

The ticket isn't valid - do absolutely nothing. Have you said where you got the ticket? Was it on a road or a private car park?

[Mike Graham]

I think Stu is on the money-If it was traffic Wise then then always take a photo of your plate, so they will be able to hunt you down. I used to try and dodge paying for parking, but they are so on the ball in Chorley you cannot get away with it. Pay up and learn your lesson !

I had a ticket in Chorley last year. I wrote to them saying it was the first time i had been shopping in the town for years and could they reconsider as it put me off...I was very pleasant (for once) and enclosed a cheque and they sent it back to me saying that they would let me off on this occasion!!

The motto is Oz "be nice"

[colin]

An interesting discussion.

I take my hat off to Abbey for getting off parking fines because of technicalities, especially the "end bar" on the double yellow lines. That's a real beauty. I take my hat off to you for getting that one.

There's a parking bay in Piccadilly in Manchester marked for "Loading & Taxis." It's complete rubbish as there is no such thing, so I could park there all day and challenge any parking ticket. I'd win.

It's also OK to challenge tickets where the carriageway markings are eroded or the signs are obscure or faded.

Off the public highway things get a bit out of my knowledge and it's a bit different. A private car park can have its own rules and regulations and once you get in there you have to abide by those or face civil action.

I should end sensibly by suggesting that everyone should park their cars with due regard to all other highway users and take care that where ever we park our cars we are not causing problems for everyone else. That's probably what all the parking restrictions are for.

Peace love & lentils