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Parking fine Small claims Court
I parked my car in council car park ,paid the due amount and stuck the ticket on my windscreen at the top in prominent position. I returned to my car 10 minutes before ticket expired. I had a penalty notice on screen for £50.
A ticket officer was nearby and I asked why I had a penalty notice . She replied" I could not read the ticket" its curled up" I told her I could read the ticket and that it still had 10 minutes to run.She replied that she could not cancel the ticket.and walked off. The penalty ticket stated ,That the CEO had reasonable cause to believe that the car had been parked without clearly displaying a pay and display ticket. This was completely untrue.
I e mailed the local council and pointed out that I had gone out of my way to do everything correctly and that this is England and it is not up to me to prove I am innocent but up to them to prove that an offence had been committed.
I advised them that I would charge them £50 for my time in answering this incorrect penalty notice but if paid within 14 days the charge would be £25.(the same as their charge) I advised them that if not paid I would take them to court.
They replied that the penalty had been issued correctly and produced photos of my car which were so bad that a ticket could not be seen.
I advised them that the photos were not fit for use and produced photos taken by a young man who had witnessed what had occurred.
The council asked if I could produce the valid parking ticket,which I did and they duly cancelled the fine.
I have issued a claim in the small claims court for £50 as I do not think that the council should act in this way where people have to prove that they acted correctly.
The council are going to defend this action and have a senior solicitor to fight the Case who will ask for costs.
I feel this is wrong as a solicitor costs about £150 an hour and I feel this is not fair to use taxpayers money this way. and it puts me at a disadvantage as all I want to do is to stop councils acting in a way that places the onus on the public to prove they have not committed an offence. This is contrary to British Law. Any advice will be welcomed
A ticket officer was nearby and I asked why I had a penalty notice . She replied" I could not read the ticket" its curled up" I told her I could read the ticket and that it still had 10 minutes to run.She replied that she could not cancel the ticket.and walked off. The penalty ticket stated ,That the CEO had reasonable cause to believe that the car had been parked without clearly displaying a pay and display ticket. This was completely untrue.
I e mailed the local council and pointed out that I had gone out of my way to do everything correctly and that this is England and it is not up to me to prove I am innocent but up to them to prove that an offence had been committed.
I advised them that I would charge them £50 for my time in answering this incorrect penalty notice but if paid within 14 days the charge would be £25.(the same as their charge) I advised them that if not paid I would take them to court.
They replied that the penalty had been issued correctly and produced photos of my car which were so bad that a ticket could not be seen.
I advised them that the photos were not fit for use and produced photos taken by a young man who had witnessed what had occurred.
The council asked if I could produce the valid parking ticket,which I did and they duly cancelled the fine.
I have issued a claim in the small claims court for £50 as I do not think that the council should act in this way where people have to prove that they acted correctly.
The council are going to defend this action and have a senior solicitor to fight the Case who will ask for costs.
I feel this is wrong as a solicitor costs about £150 an hour and I feel this is not fair to use taxpayers money this way. and it puts me at a disadvantage as all I want to do is to stop councils acting in a way that places the onus on the public to prove they have not committed an offence. This is contrary to British Law. Any advice will be welcomed
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