UK Campaigners Challenge Parking Ticket System

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

02 October 2008

A landmark case has reached the UK's High Court which could potentially see millions of parking tickets revoked, and the law surrounding the issuing of tickets changed.

Neil Herron, who has been dubbed the 'metric martyr' for being the driving force behind a campaign several years ago which prevented British shopkeepers using imperial measurements from facing prosecution, has stepped up once again to challenge the often outlandish ways in which British motorists are penalised when parking.

Mr Herron, who is awaiting the court's decision on his application for an official judicial review into the matter, has branded the issuing of parking penalties and fines to motorists as little more than a well-disguised "stealth tax," from which the government makes an estimated GBP1bn worth of revenue every year - a significant increase since the police handed over the issuing of parking tickets to local councils nearly ten years ago.

"We are all fed up with being stealth taxed by a system which does not appear to be properly accountable or regulated," the former market trader from Sunderland announced when he arrived at court late last week.

According to recent statistics, around 9,800 motorists are clobbered with parking fines every day, with 60p from each ticket funding the Traffic Penalty Tribunal - a point which Herron feels clearly demonstrates the unfair nature of the tariffs.

Adding to his argument, Mr Herron also claims that the current law surrounding Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) completely contradicts itself by stating that tickets issued in an area which has specific markings (zigzags or zebra crossings, for example) are against the law - yet thousands of penalties are still handed to vehicles in these areas on a daily basis.

"If you're a minute late back from a meeting you get a GBP120 fine. If you're an inch over a white bay, you get a GBP120 fine," Herron remarked outside court, speaking of the new maximum parking fine which was introduced earlier this year.

"The law's a two-way street and if we have to comply with the law, the most important thing is that the councils comply with the law," he added.

As well as contradicting their own system, Mr Herron is also seeking to claim that the government does not regulate their present parking guidelines efficiently enough, causing chaos amongst motorists who are completely confused over where they are - or aren't - permitted to leave their vehicles.

The support for Mr Herron's campaign is widespread, with motorists up and down the country backing his case, and should his appeal be successful, Herron hopes millions of motorists will be handed back the parking fees they've been made to pay to councils over the years.

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