Barrow council rapped for ‘nonsense’ parking penalty
PARKING chiefs in Barrow have been told to learn the law after a tribunal overturned a parking ticket.Nick Regan, who runs Panchromatic in Church Street, Barrow, a sound system installation company, said he has been repeatedly hit by parking tickets throughout his five-year tenure at the premises.
Fed up of fighting the fines, Mr Regan took Barrow Borough Council to the Traffic Penalty Tribunal after the council handed him tickets for unloading.
The Traffic Penalty Tribunal, which heard the appeal, branded the council’s reason for ticketing Mr Regan as “patent nonsense” and said the authority needs to find out more about parking law.
A report from the tribunal said: “In an effort to show that they had considered what Mr Regan said they repeated what he said about loading.
“But then they entirely ignored the point.
“Instead they concentrated on the contravention code, which of course has no legal authority, and declared that the PCN was issued for a ‘breach of that code’s legislation’.
“The council may wish to consult their legal department to seek clarification of how decriminalised parking enforcement actually works.
“Having ignored his representations and misinterpreted the law it was disingenuous of them to blame Mr Regan when seeking to defend themselves.”
Mr Regan was awarded £65.84 costs following the hearing.
He said: “I pull up outside the shop every morning, I take my shutters down and load my stuff out of the car.
“I pay my rates but I can’t get a parking permit.”
He added: “They ignored my representations and they misinterpreted the law.
“How many hundreds of pounds have they taken from people incorrectly?”
Barrow Borough Council did not attend the hearing in Penrith.
Keith Johnston, assistant director for communities at Barrow Borough Council, said the council was unable to comment on individual cases.
He added: “Barrow Borough Council respects the traffic adjudicator’s decision whilst recognising that every case turns on its merits and doesn’t set precedents for others. Our staff always strive to act within the relevant legislation when issuing a penalty charge.”
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