Help - I'm being blackmailed by Ncle City Council Parking Control to pay £85 before Thursday night or otherwise appear in court on Monday to potentially face a criminal conviction and a higher fine, all for parking 'out of bay' in a car park at 19.40 hrs when the car park closed at 18.00 hrs! Can they do this???
Excess Charge Ticket
- Thread starter caldy
- Start date
AndyMac
Retired from service
I suppose it depends on the wording of the notice on the parking meter.
Most car parks operate an 'evening' service these days so I would say that you are still bound by the parking conditions outside normal house in those circumstances.
Was there a good reason for parking 'out of bay'. If the car park closed at 18:00 how were you still there at 19:40?
Ultimately it depends on how you feel about taking this on and going to court? Tricky one as if you loose you will be in deeper trouble and possible face bigger fines etc.
So before you do anything else, go back to the car park and carefully read the parking restrictions notice to see if there are any that pertain to out of hours parking.
Good luck
Most car parks operate an 'evening' service these days so I would say that you are still bound by the parking conditions outside normal house in those circumstances.
Was there a good reason for parking 'out of bay'. If the car park closed at 18:00 how were you still there at 19:40?
Ultimately it depends on how you feel about taking this on and going to court? Tricky one as if you loose you will be in deeper trouble and possible face bigger fines etc.
So before you do anything else, go back to the car park and carefully read the parking restrictions notice to see if there are any that pertain to out of hours parking.
Good luck
The only ticket I've ever had was for 'parking out of bay' at 8pm at night in a deserted car park. I tried to argue but realised I was on a hiding to nothing so just paid up.
Nickynibbles
Damn it where's 7th gear when you need it?!
When did it happen? Did they put a ticket on your windscreen? Did it have the usual "pay in 14 days to only pay 1/2 the fine"? If so & your within 14 days your well within your rights to put a complaint in writing, and this freezes the penalty charge at the lower rate until the matter is settled.
Now when you say it closed at 1800 hrs, is it a barrier control sort of car park that actually stops admitting people at 1800 hrs or an open car park and 1800 hrs is when the chargeable parking period ends? If its the latter then you can argue that the car park was virtually deserted and you were causing no obstruction to other motorists wishing to use the car park. If the car park was actually closed, then there definately would be no obstruction to other motorists, but you'd have to justify what your were doing there so late after the car park closed!
Car parking offenses are a load of toss and there's a lot of problems with the legislation in this area. Private companies can get away with murder with what they do, and unfortunately many councils take the mick too! Best bet is to complain and freeze the penalty, although i'd hazard a guess that if they're threatening court action then this happened some time ago & you just havent paid??
Now when you say it closed at 1800 hrs, is it a barrier control sort of car park that actually stops admitting people at 1800 hrs or an open car park and 1800 hrs is when the chargeable parking period ends? If its the latter then you can argue that the car park was virtually deserted and you were causing no obstruction to other motorists wishing to use the car park. If the car park was actually closed, then there definately would be no obstruction to other motorists, but you'd have to justify what your were doing there so late after the car park closed!
Car parking offenses are a load of toss and there's a lot of problems with the legislation in this area. Private companies can get away with murder with what they do, and unfortunately many councils take the mick too! Best bet is to complain and freeze the penalty, although i'd hazard a guess that if they're threatening court action then this happened some time ago & you just havent paid??
Thanks to you all - I have a magistrate pal who is also investigating for me. He thinks it's outrageous but I may still lose, depends on who's on the bench that day.
The car park, a tarmac area of land, open access at both ends onto main highway, behind a shopping centre, has the standard parking conditions notice board. It has the opening hours and amongst other terms a statement that a ticket will be issued for failing to park in a designated bay. My argument was purely that, as the car park was in effect closed i.e.after 6 pm from which time you did not need to pay, then any other restrictions also no longer applied. I was only there 5 minutes to collect a take-away and was not causing any obstruction. If all the car parks cease to charge after 18.00, why are wardens employed? If I had collected my take-away at 22.00 would the wrden still have been on duty? I pointed out in various letters that there were other vehicles parked on yellow lines nearby but was told that street parking in Newcastle is controlled by the police and was therefore not the concern of the council.
Christ - I'm sounding more like Victor Meldrew every day! Guess I may have to pay up and write it off to experience.
The car park, a tarmac area of land, open access at both ends onto main highway, behind a shopping centre, has the standard parking conditions notice board. It has the opening hours and amongst other terms a statement that a ticket will be issued for failing to park in a designated bay. My argument was purely that, as the car park was in effect closed i.e.after 6 pm from which time you did not need to pay, then any other restrictions also no longer applied. I was only there 5 minutes to collect a take-away and was not causing any obstruction. If all the car parks cease to charge after 18.00, why are wardens employed? If I had collected my take-away at 22.00 would the wrden still have been on duty? I pointed out in various letters that there were other vehicles parked on yellow lines nearby but was told that street parking in Newcastle is controlled by the police and was therefore not the concern of the council.
Christ - I'm sounding more like Victor Meldrew every day! Guess I may have to pay up and write it off to experience.
Careful though - if the car park was "closed" then could they do you for being there when you shouldn't have been?
Does the sign specifically state that the parking wholly within a bay regulation is excluded after 18:00? If not then I would think you are still liable.
Does the sign specifically state that the parking wholly within a bay regulation is excluded after 18:00? If not then I would think you are still liable.
Tell them its nice to see they are doing a great job keeping the parking crime to a minimum when there are so many people avoiding paying council tax and falcely admiting to how many tennants live within their council houses etc ;
