WARDENS FROM HELL

THIS is blatant extortion - and it makes me angry.

The shamless greed displayed by these councils is a disgusting abuse of public office.

Let's one thing straight, despatching gestapo squads of over-zealous traffic wardens to harass motorists is a policy deliberately dreamed up in order to make cash.

Parking tickets have become a new form stealth tax that have NOTHING to do with road safety or easing congestion-and the bearded cyclists who run the town halls don't care one jot about the misery they inflict.

In the Banana Republic of Islington, one of the worst abusers of motorists in London, the council damages an estimated one in every twelve cars that it tows away - yet it routinely refuses to compensate the owners for this form of criminal damage.

Comments

[John Goodman]

Its about time we all used our votes wisely in the next round of councel elections and the next general election !!!

WHY are you voting for these petty bureaucrats

WHY vote in councellors who encourage these traffic gestapo spycam parking schemes

IF THERE is no councellor for election who opposes these spycam big brother type TRAFFIC GESTAPO parking schemes then stand for election yourself

IF NOT.. then don't moan about it when you have had the chance to do something about it

REMEMBER ...your votes count..those who don't vote have let the chance slip through their hands to change things

[Jacqui]

Yes, i too was unfortunate to receive 2 tickets from camden council a couple of weeks ago whilst parked for about 7 mins to unload my bags to a hotel in great russel street,i have proof of the time it was parked as when i moved the car, it was parked in bloomsbury square for the two nights i was visiting, this ticket also had the time on it. At present the one ticket was withdrawn as they had issued it in error, although having to translate what was on the letter didnt exactly own up to an apology, just some drivel about the contravention not being issued to the councils high standards!!! I think they mean they issued in in error, not exactly clear english. The second is unresolved as she states she read the parking tickets attendands comments(there was no parking attendant it was a web-cam, this was verified by an employee of the council when i queried it, there was no notes either) and also she said she couldn't be sure i was parked just solely for the off-loading of my baggage, so i'm not quite sure what they are suggesting i was doing parked outside a hotel on a friday night for 7 mins only. My second letter is to be posted today

[mavis wallace]

I am a dissabled o.a.p who cannot get around too much and thought it was o.k. to park on yellow lines as long as not causing an obstruction. - I thought that was why I was issued with my blue badge. But after returning from shopping (half an hour) I found a parking ticket on my car. - I complained to the address on the back of the ticket as I thought I was correctly parked, but received a reply saying it is not alright to park if there are yellow lines on the kerb. - I can honestly say I never saw any of these, and returned to see if there were any, and the reason I never saw them was because they were virtually invisible, almost worn away. - Surely if these are the reason for issuing the ticket they should be clearly visible. (there are many other dissabled motorists getting tickets there everyday) - I have paid the 30 pound fine, but feel very aggrieved about it. Cant the council afford a drop of paint out of all the money they are raking in ? - If the signs were clear, perhaps people would not park there, then I suppose there would be no 30 pounds.

[Chris Piggott]

Us poor unfourtunate drivers in Havering have to suffer the misery of being videod by parking officials.Havering have a fleet of super high tech smart cars with telescopic camera poles that can catch you wherever you are.Oh by the way they are also allowed to park illegally while nicking you,ie two wheels on pavement and parking outside a school etc

[mr k port]

I received a parking ticket in Westminster for the meter being over the time, even though i had enough time to take me until 18.31 when the meter's are no longer in use.It appears as if this meter was running fast and i lost 9 mins of time.

I appealed as was even informed by the traffic warden that there has been many reports of meters running fast. They rejected my appeal as i did not fall into a list of 10 reasons that they could cancel it, plus it was over the time and their meters are checked every 2 months.

I have asked for records for this meter but it was not sent to me.As the vechile is leased they just send the request for the money to the company that lease's the vechiles as they know they will just pay up and then they get the money back from the company they lease the vechile to. It is one big SCAM that is for sure.

[chris hill]

how about this for camden,just got pnc in post i was staying on tottenham court rd,ncp was closed so parked at ncp bloomberry sq,pick up my car at 630am thought i could find way back to hotel although dont no london very well,got a bit lost ended up on kingsway so pulled over to set satnav stoped with engine running for one minute and 19seconds and got a ticket.what is this country comeing to,its a joke.thanks chris

[Raymond]

Read your article to-day and thought i might send you details of a parking ticket issued to me by Islington Council. I am a blue badge holder and thought, logically, that when a bus stop was not in use it would revert to 'ordinary' parking. As there was a single yellow line i displayed my badge!

response from Islington:- In your letter you state that you were extremely surprised to find the above notice on your car. The road is currently closed and no buses are travelling along the stretch where you where parked. You had parked over the bus stop, but there was a notice stating 'bus stop not in use' However to be on the safe side, you also displayed your Blue Badge.
While I understand that the Bus stop was closed, you are not allowed to park there at any time all and the fact that you had displayed a disabled badge indicated that you felt you might not be permitted to park there as the bus stop was not in use for reason.
As the PCN was issued correctly, I must request that you make payment of £60 within 14 days of this letter. After that period the charge will increase to £120.00.

[Kevin]

I have to say that this is a good article. It is about time that this scam was revealed and the people of this nation can see what greedy and money making schemes that this goverment and councils are making, just to make more and more money out of us. May we not forget though that what with parking tickets and speed camaras the motortists of this country or treated more harshly than a murderer or a convicted paedophile. This country hasnt gone mad it just been finished by money schemes by his failed government.

[Lavina Ayre]

i have just read your article on Page 29 of the 2/9/07 edition of the NOTW entitled 'Park and Hide and i can couldnt agree more, its all about the money for the councils. i live in bournemouth and often see the Parking Wardens hiding and sneaking about to slap tickets on vehicles. I also have it on good authority that they clamp vehicles in roads even thou there are no signs to say they will do this! My understanding was they can only clamp people in their car parks. it all seems very underhand and sly to me. Anyway, keep up the good work.
Lavina. x