9:30am Saturday 11th October 2008
By Alex Hayes
A LEGAL appeal could result in Ealing Council being obliged to pay back millions in unlawfully collected parking fines.
Campaigners have mounted a judicial review at the High Court to make councils which collect money from improperly marked bays to pay back penalties collected from motorists.
Last month the Ealing Times revealed how many of the controlled parking bays in the borough are wrongly marked, causing confusion among motorists, but Ealing Council has said it would not change them.
Neil Herron, the man who launched the bid on behalf of motorists across the country, said: “For councils, parking services are not about transparency, fairness and keeping the streets clear but about revenue collection.
“If we are successful then this will have wide-reaching implications for every council which enforces unlawful parking bays. We are trying to shine a spotlight on the whole industry – especially the likes of Ealing, which still allows these unlawful bays to be enforced.
“These councils are not above the law, but at the moment there is no properly independent watchdog for drivers to appeal to and that is what we are challenging.”
Currently, contested appeals in London are referred to the Parking and Traffic Appeal Service (PATAS), which is funded with around 40p from every ticket issued in the capital, and adjudicators are selected by London Councils, which also controls how much they are paid.
Mr Herron continued: “The more tickets issued, the more money they get. This cannot be called a fully independent body in any way. What we want is something set up which is totally transparent and accountable.
“What we have also done is set up a group called Motorists Legal Challenge to raise a fund to help motorists appeal tickets we know to be unfair. This will give some sort of independent watchdog with top lawyers to help drivers.
“There are only three diagrams in the parking manual which have to be followed, but somehow these councils have not managed to do it correctly.”
Two weeks ago Mr Herron went to the High Court to lodge papers asking for a judicial review, although it will not be decided whether he can pursue his case for several weeks.
He estimates around 60 per cent of parking bays in the capital are incorrectly marked or have the wrong signs at them. He believes that, nationally, councils raise about £1.2bn from tickets every year.
The leader of Ealing Council declined to comment.
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