Three in four parking fines are found to be wrong
South London
Greg Truscott
ALMOST three-quarters of appeals against parking tickets issued in a borough infamous for its overzealous wardens are upheld, new figures reveal.
Of the 3,124 tickets, clamps and vehicle removals challenged by motorists in Lambeth in the past year, 2,184, nearly 70 per cent were successful.
The statistics, which were released by the Association of Local Government (ALG) this week, show that just 940 appeals made between April last year and March this year to the independent Parking and
Traffic Appeals Services (PATAS) were refused.
The figures reveal motorists in Lambeth - which issues more than 300,000 parking tickets each year - disputed more penalty charge notices (PCNs) than almost every other London borough.
PATAS received 3,191 appeals against tickets and clamps in Lambeth in the past year and processed 3,124.
Only Wandsworth and Westminster generated more.
In Wandsworth, PATAS received 3,199 appeals over the past year and of the 2,813 processed, 1,525 were granted, while 1,288 were refused.
Lambeth and Wandsworth both use private contractor Control Plus to enforce parking regulations in their boroughs.
In Southwark 1,817 appeals were made; 1,160 were upheld and 666 refused. In Lewisham, just 498 appeals were made, of which 183 were allowed.
Campaigners against over zealous parking enforcement - which rakes in millions of pounds for cash-strapped councils - say the Lambeth figures suggest too many PCNs are being issued incorrectly.
Barrie Segal, founder of Appealnow.com, a website set up to fight unwarranted parking tickets, said: "Lambeth has always had a poor reputation for overzealous ticketing.
"The latest figures show that 70 per cent of the tickets appealed in the borough last year have proved to be invalid.
"Even worse,the borough did not even bother to contest 940 appeals.
"It demonstrates that wardens in Lambeth are continuing to issue overzealous and illegal tickets.It's disgraceful."
Lambeth Labour councillor Nigel Haselden, deputy cabinet member for parking and transport, said less than two per cent of tickets issued in the last financial year were appealed against.
He said: "Also,the decision not to contest a ticket is sometimes made because motorists wait until the appeal stage before coming forward with a piece of information that would have led to the ticket being cancelled if they had come forward with it earlier.
"However, I am concerned that the proportion of appeals that are allowed or not contested is so high.
"This is why we are already reviewing parking in Lambeth to make sure we have a fair parking service as part of our wider transport strategy."
Greg Truscott
ALMOST three-quarters of appeals against parking tickets issued in a borough infamous for its overzealous wardens are upheld, new figures reveal.
Of the 3,124 tickets, clamps and vehicle removals challenged by motorists in Lambeth in the past year, 2,184, nearly 70 per cent were successful.
The statistics, which were released by the Association of Local Government (ALG) this week, show that just 940 appeals made between April last year and March this year to the independent Parking and
Traffic Appeals Services (PATAS) were refused.
The figures reveal motorists in Lambeth - which issues more than 300,000 parking tickets each year - disputed more penalty charge notices (PCNs) than almost every other London borough.
PATAS received 3,191 appeals against tickets and clamps in Lambeth in the past year and processed 3,124.
Only Wandsworth and Westminster generated more.
In Wandsworth, PATAS received 3,199 appeals over the past year and of the 2,813 processed, 1,525 were granted, while 1,288 were refused.
Lambeth and Wandsworth both use private contractor Control Plus to enforce parking regulations in their boroughs.
In Southwark 1,817 appeals were made; 1,160 were upheld and 666 refused. In Lewisham, just 498 appeals were made, of which 183 were allowed.
Campaigners against over zealous parking enforcement - which rakes in millions of pounds for cash-strapped councils - say the Lambeth figures suggest too many PCNs are being issued incorrectly.
Barrie Segal, founder of Appealnow.com, a website set up to fight unwarranted parking tickets, said: "Lambeth has always had a poor reputation for overzealous ticketing.
"The latest figures show that 70 per cent of the tickets appealed in the borough last year have proved to be invalid.
"Even worse,the borough did not even bother to contest 940 appeals.
"It demonstrates that wardens in Lambeth are continuing to issue overzealous and illegal tickets.It's disgraceful."
Lambeth Labour councillor Nigel Haselden, deputy cabinet member for parking and transport, said less than two per cent of tickets issued in the last financial year were appealed against.
He said: "Also,the decision not to contest a ticket is sometimes made because motorists wait until the appeal stage before coming forward with a piece of information that would have led to the ticket being cancelled if they had come forward with it earlier.
"However, I am concerned that the proportion of appeals that are allowed or not contested is so high.
"This is why we are already reviewing parking in Lambeth to make sure we have a fair parking service as part of our wider transport strategy."
posted by Neil Herron at 11:41 AM
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