By Elliot Wright, 27th January 2010
Councils have been accused of greed after it was found that
traffic wardens are dishing out fines to motorists who leave old
tickets visible in their car.
A legal loophole exists whereby council wardens or parking
attendants can hand out parking fines to motorists if they can see
more than one pay-and-display ticket in the car, even if one of the
tickets is valid.
Council chiefs have been accused by critics - including the AA -
of exploiting 'pernicious' technicalities to punish law-abiding
drivers unfairly despite being previously warned by ministers that
they should not use their parking powers as a moneymaking
scheme.
Fines for multiple tickets - contravention number nine in a list
of parking offences - is the latest example of councils using their
powers to fleece motorists.
Motorists can also be fined if their pay-and-display ticket
slips out of view, even if they produce it later on.
Penalties also include fines for parking more than 19.6in from the
kerb.
Councils raised £328m in parking fines last
year, three times the amount collected by speed cameras.
Parking fines can range from £120 in central London to £70
outside the capital with a 50% discount if paid within 14 days.
Councils raised £328m in parking fines last year, three times
the amount collected by speed cameras.
The AA criticised the councils' interpretation of the rules. A
spokesman said: "It is one thing if somebody is being clever and
plastering their windscreen with old pay and display tickets, it is
rather different when somebody was in a hurry and forgot to remove
an old voucher. There has to be some sense of proportion."
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