Parking fine cash fear
Council faces losing millions over 'wrongly worded' penalty tickets
Leeds Today
By Tony Gardner
LEEDS City Council could be set for "financial catastrophe" over claims parking tickets issued in the city are not enforceable by law.
Highways bosses are nervously awaiting the outcome of a High Court judicial review which could invalidate thousands of parking tickets, costing the local authority millions in lost revenue.
The decision could open the floodgates for drivers to appeal against parking charge notices (PCNs) if judges rule that tickets handed out by traffic wardens are incorrectly worded.
Last month the YEP told how the father of a 12-year-old boy suffering from a rare incurable brain condition was taking on the council, claiming that eight tickets issued were not lawful.
The council is refusing to back down over its demands for £480 and the case was due to go an appeal hearing.
But the hearing is one of countless cases across the country to be adjourned by the National Parking Adjudication Service pending the outcome of the High Court hearing which relates to tickets issues by Barnet Council in London.
Barnet have already lost before a Parking and Traffic Appeals Service adjudicator on the wording of their PCN and lost again after asking for a review of the case.
Neil Herron, a campaigner against parking enforcement, said if they lose at the High Court for a third time the implications for many local authorities who have similarly worded PCNs, including Leeds, could be "financially catastrophic."
Mr Herron said the mix-up was due to the Leeds notices not containing the date and time of the contravention.
Recent victories by motorists in Bury and Sunderland have resulted in local authorities having to return millions of pounds in collected fines.
Mr Herron added: "Many local authorities who have seen decriminalised parking enforcement as a cash-cow to supplement their budgets are going to pay the price."
Ashley Finister, from Bramley, was hit with eight parking tickets over the course of a month when he parked close to Leeds General Infirmary as he ferried his desperately ill son Jordan to the hospital.
The tickets were issued after Jordan's disabled parking permit had expired and on other occasions he had parked in restricted areas.
Mr Finister said he was determined to take advantage of the technicality.
A council spokesman said: "The Leeds ticket is not the same as the one issued in Barnet and we are confident that ours is legal."
tony.gardner@ypn.co.uk
Leeds Today
By Tony Gardner
LEEDS City Council could be set for "financial catastrophe" over claims parking tickets issued in the city are not enforceable by law.
Highways bosses are nervously awaiting the outcome of a High Court judicial review which could invalidate thousands of parking tickets, costing the local authority millions in lost revenue.
The decision could open the floodgates for drivers to appeal against parking charge notices (PCNs) if judges rule that tickets handed out by traffic wardens are incorrectly worded.
Last month the YEP told how the father of a 12-year-old boy suffering from a rare incurable brain condition was taking on the council, claiming that eight tickets issued were not lawful.
The council is refusing to back down over its demands for £480 and the case was due to go an appeal hearing.
But the hearing is one of countless cases across the country to be adjourned by the National Parking Adjudication Service pending the outcome of the High Court hearing which relates to tickets issues by Barnet Council in London.
Barnet have already lost before a Parking and Traffic Appeals Service adjudicator on the wording of their PCN and lost again after asking for a review of the case.
Neil Herron, a campaigner against parking enforcement, said if they lose at the High Court for a third time the implications for many local authorities who have similarly worded PCNs, including Leeds, could be "financially catastrophic."
Mr Herron said the mix-up was due to the Leeds notices not containing the date and time of the contravention.
Recent victories by motorists in Bury and Sunderland have resulted in local authorities having to return millions of pounds in collected fines.
Mr Herron added: "Many local authorities who have seen decriminalised parking enforcement as a cash-cow to supplement their budgets are going to pay the price."
Ashley Finister, from Bramley, was hit with eight parking tickets over the course of a month when he parked close to Leeds General Infirmary as he ferried his desperately ill son Jordan to the hospital.
The tickets were issued after Jordan's disabled parking permit had expired and on other occasions he had parked in restricted areas.
Mr Finister said he was determined to take advantage of the technicality.
A council spokesman said: "The Leeds ticket is not the same as the one issued in Barnet and we are confident that ours is legal."
tony.gardner@ypn.co.uk
posted by Neil Herron at 5:31 AM
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