Towing away cars could be breach of human rights

By David Millward Transport Correspondent
Telegraph(Filed: 18/01/2006)

Councils that tow away cars run the risk of breaking human rights legislation, the parking appeal service has said.
Yesterday it said they must use the power to clamp and remove vehicles reasonably if they were to avoid being held to have broken the law.
The advice was contained in the annual report of the National Parking Adjudication Service, which hears appeals against tickets issued by councils outside London.
One of its 30 adjudicators, all lawyers, said that towing away without good reason represented a breach of article 1 of the Human Rights Act, which protects property.
Cars should be removed only when they were causing an obstruction. That was especially the case in the evenings when there was less public transport.
"There must be significant justification for towing away a vehicle at night," the report said. "In some cases removal may even jeopardise a vulnerable driver's safety."
The report criticised an unnamed council for removing a car parked in a designated bay because the driver had not displayed a ticket.
Another motorist's car was towed away for non-payment of a £1.50 parking fee. The service described that as "disproportionate". It emerged that Bristol city council was responsible in both cases.
Bristol is one of seven authorities outside London with the power to remove cars. The others are Birmingham, Blackpool, Brighton, Manchester, Nottingham, and Oxfordshire.
Bristol, which towed away 6,256 cars last year, was singled out for special criticism after it emerged that it had not contested nearly half of the 70 appeals against removal made to the adjudication service.
"We are assessing the document and its implications," the council said last night. "Since the data for this report were collated in 2004 we have agreed a new strategy which involves a review of our enforcement policies, including tow-away procedures."
The adjudication service received 10,441 appeals in 2004.
Paul Watters, of the AA Motoring Trust, expressed disquiet at the behaviour of some councils. "It is pretty fundamental that the draconian powers to remove a car should be reserved for serious offences and persistent offenders," he said.
Across the country, 176 councils have taken over parking enforcement from the police. Twenty-two others have applied to do so.
The number of parking tickets has soared as councils try to cash in on the power to issue parking tickets, clamp and tow away cars. In many cases the service is carried out by private contractors.