A pensioner has been hit with a shock £70 fine for parking in the same spot he has been using for three decades.
Mick Carter, 70, was shocked after returning home from holiday to find a nasty surprise – a parking ticket.
The pensioner bought a house in Maidstone, Kent, 35 years ago, and has been parking on the nearby speed ramp since it was built thirty years ago.
He said: ‘I can’t believe it. No yellow lines on the road, no parking restrictions, no notice that you can’t park there.
‘Ramps don’t have dimpled paving slabs to tell blind people it’s a crossing.’
He said he always made sure the Ford Kuga was off the pavement so it wouldn’t block pedestrians.
But last week he received a letter saying he had been issued a £70 ticket for parking in a ‘special enforcement area on a section of road raised to meet the level of a road, cycle or track.’
The 70-year-old asked why he was being fined when ‘everyone parks on the ramp when they have to.’
‘Parking can be difficult here,’ he said, adding that he had two parking spaces in front of his house taken up by the family caravan and a second car.
However, the retired locksmith wasn’t going to accept the ticket without a fight, so he went down the street and knocked on houses at one end of the ramp to see if anyone else had a ticket, but he didn’t. one already, only me.’
When he appealed the sentence, he was told a week later that it was wrongly issued.
Still, the experience was ‘quite stressful,’ he said.
An email from the Civil Enforcement Team said: ‘We agree that the penalty was wrongly issued and I apologize for the error and inconvenience caused.’
Mick said: ‘It was quite stressful. Like I said, I park there, so I don’t know if there will be more penalty charges.
‘It seems to contradict everything I’ve read on the internet.
‘I still want to know how I was issued with the ticket in the first place.
‘Since there is no yellow line on Plains Avenue, there should be no reason for the parking officer to come here.’
However, now Maidstone Borough Council has said the initial judgment has been issued correctly.
A spokesman said: ‘The initial penalty charge notice was issued correctly.
‘When the driver appeals, the appeals officer makes a decision to dismiss the notice with a warning.
‘However, an error on the part of the appeals officer meant that the wrong notice was issued, which caused confusion about the case. MBC apologizes for any confusion caused.’
The reason for the surprise fine is that Mick lives in a Special Enforcement Area, which means that under traffic management laws, a penalty charge can be issued if the offense occurs in a special area.
The council added that where the level of the sidewalk or curb has been lowered to street level and also where the road has been raised to the level of the sidewalk or curb, it helps pedestrians to cross the road, cyclists to enter or exit. carriageways and vehicles crossing footpaths, cycle tracks or roadsides to access on-street parking.’
These violations do not require signs or curbs.
Contact the news team by emailing webnews@metro.co.uk.
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