We Name and Shame the Guilty Parties

An outrageous way to catch motorists

Bexley Council's latest scam is illegal - victims must appeal

Our correspondent writes ...

I went to the post office on Northumberland Heath this morning (25th September 2006) and parked in an authorised bay marked with the customary blue P sign. As I was getting out of my car, a shopkeeper warned me that the bay had been suspended and pointed to a traffic warden who was loitering like a hungry vulture on the other side of the road. (See also the article on Bexley Traffic Wardens)

I would normally expect that withdrawn bays would have a cover over the notice, just like a parking meter does when it is withdrawn. Not so in this case. A tatty cardboard notice had been tied to the post with bits of string, much like the ones that are attached by fly posters advertising rock band performances, etcetera.

This particular piece of card had fairly small writing which was rather feint and streaky after the overnight rain. Without putting on my glasses, I could not possibly read it but it was difficult to read even with my glasses because it had pivoted on the post and was actually facing away from the road.

(Click either of the thumbnails to see more photographic evidence and an animation)

Then I noticed several other cars had fixed penalty notices attached to their windscreens and, as I drove off to find another place to park, I noticed more cars parked in other bays up and down Bexley Road had also been booked. The traffic warden was patrolling up and down the whole shopping parade making a real killing for the council but I didn't see him trying to warn any motorists who were just about to park. He certainly made no effort to warn me.

Parking in the London Borough of Bexley is a nightmare at the best of times. The highways department seem to have stumbled upon a hidden cache of yellow paint or perhaps they got a special deal for buying an enormous quantity. Whatever reason, they use this paint incessantly to create No Parking areas in the most unlikely places.

One favourite is to create Controlled Parking Zones in residential areas by yellow lining roads so that no-one can park between 10:00 am and midday. The pretext is that they are attempting to stop commuters parking in the streets before they walk to the local railway station to catch their train to London. They did the same with my road a couple of years back which was rather strange as no commuters ever parked outside my house. It's actually quite a long walk to the railway station. Needless to say, however, this scheme adds to Bexley's revenue because they introduce some parking bays in each street and sell permits to house owners who could previously park for nothing. At £25 per permit per annum, this adds up to a tidy sum and some of it can probably be used to buy even more yellow paint.

Getting back to Bexley's no parking policy in general and the Northumberland Heath issue in particular, the warden's obvious attempt to issue as many tickets as he could reinforces local opinion that VINCI Park UK (the company formerly known as Sureway Parking Services who operate the warden parking system in the borough) are only interested in revenue. At times, their wardens are positively vindictive and many of Bexley's residents have been booked for being an inch outside bay marking lines that were obviously designed to take a car no bigger than a Mini.

On Northumberland Heath this morning, many motorists were angry because the suspension notices were not obvious. The shop owners were equally angry because their trade was being badly affected by the withdrawal of all parking bays - this apparently necessary, in the council's view, because a side road half a mile away was closed for maintenance.

When will this bureaucratic bungling end?

Update - 26th September

I wrote to Bexley Council yesterday morning and received an immediate acknowledgment advising that my email had been passed on to Parking Services for a response. So far, there has been no response.

This morning, I revisited Northumberland Heath where a different VINCI Park warden was busy issuing more tickets. I asked him why he was doing this and pointed out that the suspension notices were not legal. He told me his company only did what Bexley Council told them to do so I have to assume that Parking Services did not treat my correspondence with any urgency.

I can only hope people who have been caught out by this scam read this article and appeal against their booking.

Update - 29th September

At last, a response from the council. Greg Tippett, Assistant Parking Manager, Bexley Parking Services, wrote just what I suspected he would write. A complete whitewash account, full of lies and denials. (Click here to read Mr Tippett's letter and my reply)

"We never done nuffink wrong, guv. The parking manager and the senior parking officer decided that the bays should be suspended to ease congestion and enable a better traffic flow while the works down the side road were in progress."

What rubbish! Hiding in doorways until the car drivers had left their vehicles, and then leaping out to stick tickets on the windscreens meant the cars were still parked. So that did nothing to ease congestion. But it certainly did a lot to increase Bexley council's coffers. Which is the whole point of this parking scam.

This small stretch of road is congested at the best of times because it has a bottleneck at both ends. The road works in the adjacent street did nothing to worsen the congestion but the wardens could have been deployed to stop people parking before they inadvertently committed an offence. This was never the intention.

The battle rages on.

Be sure to appeal if you were caught out - Click here for instructions.

Editorial comment:

We are always concerned when the people who drive motor vehicles are constantly used to provide additional revenue for local or national government. One way or another, motorists are a prime target for the authorities if there is money to be made by taxing them or fining them. Yet people who continually commit driving offences like using a mobile phone while driving, going straight through red traffic lights, or ignoring keep left signs, never seem to get caught. Such offences, which we see every day of the week, seem to be secondary. It's much easier to appoint a bunch of profit-orientated parking enforcement agencies who can issue on-the-spot-fines for which there is hardly any chance of winning an appeal.

In this reported case, we have grave doubts about the legality of temporary cardboard notices fixed to the posts of parking signs and we are checking it out. If we find that such notices are illegal, we shall recommend that anyone who received a ticket refuses to pay and threatens legal action against the borough and their parking agency.

Top Tip

Wherever you live or work, if you've been trapped by a sneaky Civil Enforcement Officer (aka Traffic Warden) and been forced to donate to your local authority's ill-gotten gains check first that the parking restriction was valid. All the information you need can be found at http://www.parkingappeals.co.uk. More information is shown on our links page.

Visitors' Comments

The wardens outside Percy Road in Bexleyheath seem to have it in for us at the moment as I have received three parking tickets in the last month. To say I'm angry is a understatement. Vinci needs to go away. Let the police issue tickets again or some one who does not profit. Yours angrily, Christopher C, Bexleyheath.

"what is the matter with you, you seem hell bent on blocking up owe roads just for your satisfaction if you park eligerly than you should be booked if you cant read a sigen than you should not be driving as you are a danger to othere road users and should not be driving you seam to whant it all your own way and not a thought to othere road users are you an old person with nothing else to do its a pittiy you cant put as much work in surporting owe roads to keep them clear to drive on as you do to rubbish the good work some people are doing you are what people call a monne old git but may be thats what you want people to think of you have some comman sens and try and help keep owe roads open for people to drive on safferly and not calles conjestrone im not a yougster but in my late fiftes and i can see you are a fall when it comes to using the roads if your coments mach your driving than may be you should give up driving for yours and owe safte befor you hert some one and you all so nead a lessone in car parking be cause you clearly dont have a clue as for me after 40 years of drving and not a ticket or a fine i fill you are in bad need of a retest" Tony (Car Driver), Gravesend

Editorial Comment: This letter was reprinted word for word. Strangely, the writer also commented about our article on Parking Attendants but he apparently polished up his English - click here to read what he had to say.

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