Highland Council is facing a wave of appeals to parking fines it has dished out after drivers all pointed to the same error.
3
It has been revealed that parking signage failed to clearly print that it was a “restricted parking zone” by missing out the word “parking”.
Highland Councillor, Andrew Jarvie, was one of many unlucky people to have received a ticket, which he then appealed against and won.
There will now be a rush of appeals from wrongly fined drivers for the Inverness authorities to deal with.
The mistake continues to get worse in other parking areas, with the same word missing from the entrances to Union Street and Fraser Street and no signs appearing at all in Baron Taylor’s Street.
In the assessment of tribunal adjudicator, Petra McFatridge, she said: “The entry sign is not a valid Restricted Parking Zone entry sign.
“I have carefully considered all the photographic evidence in the case.
“In this case, the council’s position is that the appellant was parked within a Restricted Parking Zone.
“I have been unable to identify a provision which would permit the omission of the word ‘parking’ from the legend ‘restricted parking zone.'”
The findings in “fact and law” concluded: “The entry sign is not a valid Restricted Parking Zone entry sign.
“The zone was not correctly created and the restrictions thus not correctly indicated.”
Wheelchair user, Cllr Jarvie, who had a blue badge that had slipped off the dashboard when he was given a ticket for parking in a disabled bay on Church Street, was appalled by the council’s mistake.
He said: “Highland Council has truly outdone itself.
“For eight years, it has been dishing out tickets in the city centre to people who they say have parked illegally, only for the council to have put up the wrong signs – which don’t actually say no parking.”
He urged anyone who has received parking fines in the past in the area to contact the council for a refund.
A local authority spokesperson added: “As the relevant appeal process has not yet concluded it would not be appropriate for the council to comment at this time.
“Enforcement activities will not be suspended as every penalty charge notice (PCN) issued and any appeals are dealt with on their own merits and circumstances.”
Up to 50,000 drivers are slapped with parking fines every day in the UK.
A driver was shocked to find that he was given an £100 fine for letting his wife out of the car at a red light at Bristol Airport.
3