Car owners protest at cynical parking swoop
ic Berkshire
By Sam Matthews
MOTORISTS have accused parking attendants of issuing dubious tickets in a cynical bid to increase profits.
Residents called the Express with tales of parking woe amid reports that the town's wardens have been ordered to issue more tickets to boost revenue.
Slough Borough Council and Central Parking System, the company paid by the council to enforce parking restrictions, both deny the claims.
This week the Express was contacted by drivers like retired 62-year-old Nassar Ahmed of Goodman Park, whose ticket was eventually cancelled on appeal.
He was stunned when a penalty notice arrived in the post because he could not recall getting a ticket.
The ticket said he had been observed parking without a ticket behind Boots in the High Street for 40 minutes.
But on the day in question, he remained in the car while his wife ran some errands and a ticket was never placed on his wind-screen.
When he complained about the £60 ticket, he was told if he paid £30 it would be cancelled. But he fought on and, at the end of last month, the ticket was quashed.
Mr Ahmed said: "They claimed that the warden saw my vehicle parked for 40 minutes and had placed a ticket on my windscreen. This just was not true. I never left the car. I think that wardens are deliberately ripping people off and something should be done about it."
And a 41-year-old teacher from Langley High street, who asked not to be named, is also contesting a ticket for an offence he claims 'does not exist'.
Like Mr Ahmed, the first he knew of his alleged offence in a slip road parallel to Langley High Street, was when a penalty notice arrived in the post.
It is claimed his car was parked in a controlled zone on a Saturday afternoon in November last year, where parking was forbidden Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.
Included with the penalty was a picture of the yellow ticket on the car windscreen and a picture of a sign appearing to show the restricted parking hours.
But THREE other signs which were closer to the parked car say parking is restricted Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm.
The furious teacher said: "The fact they can persecute someone for an offence which does not exist beggars belief and is a gross waste of public resources."
Recently, the Express reported how Claudio Ferri got a ticket in the Herschel Street multi-storey car park for parking outside the white lines of the bay.
It was cancelled after the council accepted it was unfair as the car was up against a wall and not into another parking bay.
As the Slough Express went to press yesterday (Thursday), requests for a comment from the borough council and Central Parking System had not been answered.
By Sam Matthews
MOTORISTS have accused parking attendants of issuing dubious tickets in a cynical bid to increase profits.
Residents called the Express with tales of parking woe amid reports that the town's wardens have been ordered to issue more tickets to boost revenue.
Slough Borough Council and Central Parking System, the company paid by the council to enforce parking restrictions, both deny the claims.
This week the Express was contacted by drivers like retired 62-year-old Nassar Ahmed of Goodman Park, whose ticket was eventually cancelled on appeal.
He was stunned when a penalty notice arrived in the post because he could not recall getting a ticket.
The ticket said he had been observed parking without a ticket behind Boots in the High Street for 40 minutes.
But on the day in question, he remained in the car while his wife ran some errands and a ticket was never placed on his wind-screen.
When he complained about the £60 ticket, he was told if he paid £30 it would be cancelled. But he fought on and, at the end of last month, the ticket was quashed.
Mr Ahmed said: "They claimed that the warden saw my vehicle parked for 40 minutes and had placed a ticket on my windscreen. This just was not true. I never left the car. I think that wardens are deliberately ripping people off and something should be done about it."
And a 41-year-old teacher from Langley High street, who asked not to be named, is also contesting a ticket for an offence he claims 'does not exist'.
Like Mr Ahmed, the first he knew of his alleged offence in a slip road parallel to Langley High Street, was when a penalty notice arrived in the post.
It is claimed his car was parked in a controlled zone on a Saturday afternoon in November last year, where parking was forbidden Monday to Saturday, 8am to 7pm.
Included with the penalty was a picture of the yellow ticket on the car windscreen and a picture of a sign appearing to show the restricted parking hours.
But THREE other signs which were closer to the parked car say parking is restricted Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm.
The furious teacher said: "The fact they can persecute someone for an offence which does not exist beggars belief and is a gross waste of public resources."
Recently, the Express reported how Claudio Ferri got a ticket in the Herschel Street multi-storey car park for parking outside the white lines of the bay.
It was cancelled after the council accepted it was unfair as the car was up against a wall and not into another parking bay.
As the Slough Express went to press yesterday (Thursday), requests for a comment from the borough council and Central Parking System had not been answered.
posted by Neil Herron at 4:10 PM
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