Car towed away, parking restrictions misleading.
Discussion
Last night I parked in a side street that had resident only parking on the right hand side of the road and residents and pay and display parking on the left hand side of the road. Unfortunately, the fact that there were different parking restrictions on each side of the road was not clear.
On the left hand side of the road there were large signs over pay and display machines located along the road showing you could park for up to 4 hours, there was no mention on these signs that different parking restrictions applied on the opposite side of the road (this was a narrow back street, not a main road). I purchased a pay and display ticket from one of these machines and placed it in my windscreen. I then parked in what I believed to be a pay and display parking space on the right hand side of the road.
I have just retrieved my car from the local pound at a cost of £260 because I was parked in a residents only bay with a pay and display ticket in my window (at the time the car was removed there was 10 minutes left on the pay and display ticket).
On revisiting this side road this morning I found at either end of the road on the right hand side a small sign on a post displaying resident’s only restrictions. There was no mention that this applies only to the right hand side of the road. I had not seen these signs as I had parked further up the road directly opposite one of the large signs above a pay and display machine on the left saying that pay and display was in effect.
Am I right in being pissed off? There were plenty of spaces on the left hand side of the road that I would have parked in had I known that parking restrictions were in effect on the right hand side of the road. It must have been obvious to the parking attendant that I had made a mistake otherwise why would I have bothered to buy a pay and display ticket?
I intend to appeal but thought I would post up here to see if anyone has been in a similar situation. The point I will be pressing is that it was not clear that different parking restriction were being enforced on different sides of the road, and in fact the way signs had been placed suggested that pay and display parking was on both sides of the road. I have requested the pictures the parking attendant took and have kept the pay and display ticket that was on my windscreen. I will take a camera and photograph the street I was parked on tomorrow (I only had a camera phone with me at the time and the photos are crap).
Any advice would be appreciated.
On the left hand side of the road there were large signs over pay and display machines located along the road showing you could park for up to 4 hours, there was no mention on these signs that different parking restrictions applied on the opposite side of the road (this was a narrow back street, not a main road). I purchased a pay and display ticket from one of these machines and placed it in my windscreen. I then parked in what I believed to be a pay and display parking space on the right hand side of the road.
I have just retrieved my car from the local pound at a cost of £260 because I was parked in a residents only bay with a pay and display ticket in my window (at the time the car was removed there was 10 minutes left on the pay and display ticket).
On revisiting this side road this morning I found at either end of the road on the right hand side a small sign on a post displaying resident’s only restrictions. There was no mention that this applies only to the right hand side of the road. I had not seen these signs as I had parked further up the road directly opposite one of the large signs above a pay and display machine on the left saying that pay and display was in effect.
Am I right in being pissed off? There were plenty of spaces on the left hand side of the road that I would have parked in had I known that parking restrictions were in effect on the right hand side of the road. It must have been obvious to the parking attendant that I had made a mistake otherwise why would I have bothered to buy a pay and display ticket?
I intend to appeal but thought I would post up here to see if anyone has been in a similar situation. The point I will be pressing is that it was not clear that different parking restriction were being enforced on different sides of the road, and in fact the way signs had been placed suggested that pay and display parking was on both sides of the road. I have requested the pictures the parking attendant took and have kept the pay and display ticket that was on my windscreen. I will take a camera and photograph the street I was parked on tomorrow (I only had a camera phone with me at the time and the photos are crap).
Any advice would be appreciated.
Different parking resistrcitions on either side of the road round mine are quite common. A road where I often park has loading only for goods vehicles on one side and disabled on the other.
It does sound like a geuine mistake. However the bottom line is you parked somewhere you shouldn't.
It does sound like a geuine mistake. However the bottom line is you parked somewhere you shouldn't.
Pay-and-display bays
These bays provide short stay parking for motorists visiting a controlled parking zone. Some LA use pay-and-display machines instead of parking meters.
When parking in a pay-and-display bay during controlled hours, a ticket for all the time required must be purchased on arrival from a nearby machine and clearly displayed in the vehicle windscreen.
There is no grace period allowed to obtain change and motorists are not allowed to return later and purchase additional tickets.
The days and hours that restrictions apply are shown on the NEARBY sign plates and on the instruction plate on the machine itself. This instruction plate also shows the maximum stay permitted, the cost of parking time and the other conditions of use.
Permit holders' bays
These bays are reserved for holders of valid residents' permits, visitors' permits or business permits. The days and hours that RESTRICTIONS apply are SHOWN on the ZONE ENTRY SIGNS OR ON on the NEARBY SIGN PLATES.
From what you say the signs were there indicative to the side of the road with the particular restriction. Unless you can prove absense of signs or that they were turned round and unreadable then I doubt you have much chance on appeal to the adjudicator.
One has to be ultra careful these days when parking.
dvd
These bays provide short stay parking for motorists visiting a controlled parking zone. Some LA use pay-and-display machines instead of parking meters.
When parking in a pay-and-display bay during controlled hours, a ticket for all the time required must be purchased on arrival from a nearby machine and clearly displayed in the vehicle windscreen.
There is no grace period allowed to obtain change and motorists are not allowed to return later and purchase additional tickets.
The days and hours that restrictions apply are shown on the NEARBY sign plates and on the instruction plate on the machine itself. This instruction plate also shows the maximum stay permitted, the cost of parking time and the other conditions of use.
Permit holders' bays
These bays are reserved for holders of valid residents' permits, visitors' permits or business permits. The days and hours that RESTRICTIONS apply are SHOWN on the ZONE ENTRY SIGNS OR ON on the NEARBY SIGN PLATES.
From what you say the signs were there indicative to the side of the road with the particular restriction. Unless you can prove absense of signs or that they were turned round and unreadable then I doubt you have much chance on appeal to the adjudicator.
One has to be ultra careful these days when parking.
dvd
vincenz said:
However the bottom line is you parked somewhere you shouldn't.
But NOT KNOWING that it was wrong is, I believe, an absolute defence if you can prove a reasonable man wouldn't have known (which is typically by reference to adequate (or not) signage of the restriction).I can't decide if councils are incompetent, or if they actively TRY to catch people out to rake in fines...
havoc said:
vincenz said:
However the bottom line is you parked somewhere you shouldn't.
But NOT KNOWING that it was wrong is, I believe, an absolute defence if you can prove a reasonable man wouldn't have known (which is typically by reference to adequate (or not) signage of the restriction).I can't decide if councils are incompetent, or if they actively TRY to catch people out to rake in fines...
Although I am not surprised the OP was caught.
I have lived in 4 different London council areas and parked in many more and NEVER found that the signs on one side of the street apply to the other side.
In fact, more than that, I have ALWAYS found signs on BOTH sides, often multiple signs down each side as the bays change from P&D to residents and back again in what appears to be deliberately obscure signing designed to catch out non-residents. (You have to be particularly careful of the three white lines at the end of some bays telling you that there is a change in the status.)
However, you should probably challenge it anyway since often the councils don't follow through.
Also, I thought that councils could no longer tow you unless you were actively blocking traffic? Wasn't there a new law about that?
Dwight VanDriver said:
One has to be ultra careful these days when parking.
dvd
One has to be ultra-careful doing almost anything these days ... the likelihood is it's illegal, or someone in 'authority' thinks it is! - Streakydvd
havoc said:
But NOT KNOWING that it was wrong is, I believe, an absolute defence if you can prove a reasonable man wouldn't have known (which is typically by reference to adequate (or not) signage of the restriction).
Ignorance of the law, an' all that! - Streakystreaky said:
havoc said:
But NOT KNOWING that it was wrong is, I believe, an absolute defence if you can prove a reasonable man wouldn't have known (which is typically by reference to adequate (or not) signage of the restriction).
Ignorance of the law, an' all that! - StreakyThe Dirty Bubble said:
Last night I parked in a side street that had resident only parking on the right hand side of the road and residents and pay and display parking on the left hand side of the road. Unfortunately, the fact that there were different parking restrictions on each side of the road was not clear.
On the left hand side of the road there were large signs over pay and display machines located along the road showing you could park for up to 4 hours, there was no mention on these signs that different parking restrictions applied on the opposite side of the road (this was a narrow back street, not a main road). I purchased a pay and display ticket from one of these machines and placed it in my windscreen. I then parked in what I believed to be a pay and display parking space on the right hand side of the road.
I have just retrieved my car from the local pound at a cost of £260 because I was parked in a residents only bay with a pay and display ticket in my window (at the time the car was removed there was 10 minutes left on the pay and display ticket).
On revisiting this side road this morning I found at either end of the road on the right hand side a small sign on a post displaying resident’s only restrictions. There was no mention that this applies only to the right hand side of the road. I had not seen these signs as I had parked further up the road directly opposite one of the large signs above a pay and display machine on the left saying that pay and display was in effect.
Am I right in being pissed off? There were plenty of spaces on the left hand side of the road that I would have parked in had I known that parking restrictions were in effect on the right hand side of the road. It must have been obvious to the parking attendant that I had made a mistake otherwise why would I have bothered to buy a pay and display ticket?
I intend to appeal but thought I would post up here to see if anyone has been in a similar situation. The point I will be pressing is that it was not clear that different parking restriction were being enforced on different sides of the road, and in fact the way signs had been placed suggested that pay and display parking was on both sides of the road. I have requested the pictures the parking attendant took and have kept the pay and display ticket that was on my windscreen. I will take a camera and photograph the street I was parked on tomorrow (I only had a camera phone with me at the time and the photos are crap).
Any advice would be appreciated.
I have recently been in a very very similar situation with Islington Parking Services. Although I wasn't towed away, I did receive a ticket for £60 (£120 after 14 days) for parking in resident's only zone. As with your example, I parked on the wrong side of the street, the signage was almost identical, an honest mistake by me.On the left hand side of the road there were large signs over pay and display machines located along the road showing you could park for up to 4 hours, there was no mention on these signs that different parking restrictions applied on the opposite side of the road (this was a narrow back street, not a main road). I purchased a pay and display ticket from one of these machines and placed it in my windscreen. I then parked in what I believed to be a pay and display parking space on the right hand side of the road.
I have just retrieved my car from the local pound at a cost of £260 because I was parked in a residents only bay with a pay and display ticket in my window (at the time the car was removed there was 10 minutes left on the pay and display ticket).
On revisiting this side road this morning I found at either end of the road on the right hand side a small sign on a post displaying resident’s only restrictions. There was no mention that this applies only to the right hand side of the road. I had not seen these signs as I had parked further up the road directly opposite one of the large signs above a pay and display machine on the left saying that pay and display was in effect.
Am I right in being pissed off? There were plenty of spaces on the left hand side of the road that I would have parked in had I known that parking restrictions were in effect on the right hand side of the road. It must have been obvious to the parking attendant that I had made a mistake otherwise why would I have bothered to buy a pay and display ticket?
I intend to appeal but thought I would post up here to see if anyone has been in a similar situation. The point I will be pressing is that it was not clear that different parking restriction were being enforced on different sides of the road, and in fact the way signs had been placed suggested that pay and display parking was on both sides of the road. I have requested the pictures the parking attendant took and have kept the pay and display ticket that was on my windscreen. I will take a camera and photograph the street I was parked on tomorrow (I only had a camera phone with me at the time and the photos are crap).
Any advice would be appreciated.
They had painted all the bays incorrectly. This makes them unenforceable. I appealed the ticket and they cancelled it (although they made up some spurious excuse).
I strongly recommend you read this thread:
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=2260...
Although I'm still waiting on the Leeds ticket (which you should read also), the Islington ticket starts on page 2.
Parrot of Doom said:
The Dirty Bubble said:
Last night I parked in a side street that had resident only parking on the right hand side of the road and residents and pay and display parking on the left hand side of the road. Unfortunately, the fact that there were different parking restrictions on each side of the road was not clear.
On the left hand side of the road there were large signs over pay and display machines located along the road showing you could park for up to 4 hours, there was no mention on these signs that different parking restrictions applied on the opposite side of the road (this was a narrow back street, not a main road). I purchased a pay and display ticket from one of these machines and placed it in my windscreen. I then parked in what I believed to be a pay and display parking space on the right hand side of the road.
I have just retrieved my car from the local pound at a cost of £260 because I was parked in a residents only bay with a pay and display ticket in my window (at the time the car was removed there was 10 minutes left on the pay and display ticket).
On revisiting this side road this morning I found at either end of the road on the right hand side a small sign on a post displaying resident’s only restrictions. There was no mention that this applies only to the right hand side of the road. I had not seen these signs as I had parked further up the road directly opposite one of the large signs above a pay and display machine on the left saying that pay and display was in effect.
Am I right in being pissed off? There were plenty of spaces on the left hand side of the road that I would have parked in had I known that parking restrictions were in effect on the right hand side of the road. It must have been obvious to the parking attendant that I had made a mistake otherwise why would I have bothered to buy a pay and display ticket?
I intend to appeal but thought I would post up here to see if anyone has been in a similar situation. The point I will be pressing is that it was not clear that different parking restriction were being enforced on different sides of the road, and in fact the way signs had been placed suggested that pay and display parking was on both sides of the road. I have requested the pictures the parking attendant took and have kept the pay and display ticket that was on my windscreen. I will take a camera and photograph the street I was parked on tomorrow (I only had a camera phone with me at the time and the photos are crap).
Any advice would be appreciated.
I have recently been in a very very similar situation with Islington Parking Services. Although I wasn't towed away, I did receive a ticket for £60 (£120 after 14 days) for parking in resident's only zone. As with your example, I parked on the wrong side of the street, the signage was almost identical, an honest mistake by me.On the left hand side of the road there were large signs over pay and display machines located along the road showing you could park for up to 4 hours, there was no mention on these signs that different parking restrictions applied on the opposite side of the road (this was a narrow back street, not a main road). I purchased a pay and display ticket from one of these machines and placed it in my windscreen. I then parked in what I believed to be a pay and display parking space on the right hand side of the road.
I have just retrieved my car from the local pound at a cost of £260 because I was parked in a residents only bay with a pay and display ticket in my window (at the time the car was removed there was 10 minutes left on the pay and display ticket).
On revisiting this side road this morning I found at either end of the road on the right hand side a small sign on a post displaying resident’s only restrictions. There was no mention that this applies only to the right hand side of the road. I had not seen these signs as I had parked further up the road directly opposite one of the large signs above a pay and display machine on the left saying that pay and display was in effect.
Am I right in being pissed off? There were plenty of spaces on the left hand side of the road that I would have parked in had I known that parking restrictions were in effect on the right hand side of the road. It must have been obvious to the parking attendant that I had made a mistake otherwise why would I have bothered to buy a pay and display ticket?
I intend to appeal but thought I would post up here to see if anyone has been in a similar situation. The point I will be pressing is that it was not clear that different parking restriction were being enforced on different sides of the road, and in fact the way signs had been placed suggested that pay and display parking was on both sides of the road. I have requested the pictures the parking attendant took and have kept the pay and display ticket that was on my windscreen. I will take a camera and photograph the street I was parked on tomorrow (I only had a camera phone with me at the time and the photos are crap).
Any advice would be appreciated.
They had painted all the bays incorrectly. This makes them unenforceable. I appealed the ticket and they cancelled it (although they made up some spurious excuse).
I strongly recommend you read this thread:
http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?showtopic=2260...
Although I'm still waiting on the Leeds ticket (which you should read also), the Islington ticket starts on page 2.
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