Council apologises for wrongly issuing parking ticket

John Bush of Barker Street Huthwaite who has received a Fixed Penalty Notice for parking on Zig Zags outside his house.

Motorist John Bush was given the ticket for parking on zig-zag lines outside Woodhead View School in Huthwaite despite protesting restrictions only apply during term times.

He was still issued with the ticket despite telling the issuing warden the rules.

His case was taken up by councillor Lee Anderson, who has now been sent an apology letter from the authority.

Jayne Ashley of the council’s central processing unit wrote:

“I have now had the opportunity to review the details of the case and I can confirm that the information Mr Bush has provided, regarding the validity of the Traffic Regulation Order is correct.

“The contravention for being “stopped in a restricted area outside a school when prohibited” is only enforceable during term-time.

“On review of the case I note that this Penalty Charge Notice was issued on 24 August 2017, during the school holidays and therefore the Penalty Charge Notice is invalid.

“Please accept my apologies for this error. The Civil Enforcement Officer who issued the Penalty Charge Notice has been reminded of the legitimacy of the restrictions and hopefully this mistake will not be made again. Additionally I will pass on your request for the signage to be amended.

“Our records show that Mr Bush has filed an appeal against this Penalty Charge Notice and I will respond to his appeal, advising that the Penalty Charge Notice has been cancelled.”

John Bush said: “It should never have got this far in the first place - we did ask the guy to wait 10 minutes so we could show him the original council papers.

It is good news that they are rescinding the ticket. If the signage is sorted out hopefully it will be prevented from happening again. I am happy with that.