A dad-of-two has been left 'furious' after being forced to pay a parking fine despite having a legitimate ticket. However, it had flipped the wrong way round while without him noticing.
Chris Amery took his two young children to visit the World Museum in Liverpool in March of this year and paid for a pay and display ticket to leave on his dashboard. But, when he returned to his car he noticed the ticket was upside down and he had been slapped with a £50 parking fine, the LiverpoolEcho reports.
"Clearly this was an innocent mistake as the ticket I purchased was valid until 1.35pm and me and my two children returned to the car to drive home following our visit to the World Museum at around 1.20pm," said Chris, who works for the NHS. I accept that the ticket must have flipped over on the dashboard - presumably while shutting the car door at the same time as ensuring the roadside safety of my two young children (aged four and five at the time) - it was clearly not a deliberate act. Why would anyone with a valid parking ticket deliberately display it upside down?"
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Chris said he understood why he was given the fine, as the warden would not have been able to see the valid ticket, but he does not understand why he faced a 'dogged' pursuit by Liverpool City Council to pay the Penalty Charge Notice after he had "provided evidence of a valid ticket". In the end he decided to pay the fine, despite his valid ticket, so he would not be charged even more for non-payment by the council.
He said he could not afford to pay a bigger fine due to cost of living pressures but made sure he challenged the decision through the council's appeals process. The 42-year-old from Wirral said: "I was taken aback that Liverpool City Council refused to overturn it and I'm confident that any sensible person would consider any "contravention" here a technicality."
A frustrated Chris then decided to carry out some of his own research. Using Freedom of Information laws he was able to ascertain that the city council has cancelled more than 3,000 parking fines since October 2020 due to drivers providing evidence of a valid pay and display ticket - which is precisely what he did.
Chris added: "Throughout the council's appeals procedure, I repeatedly provided evidence that I had (and continue to retain) a valid pay and display ticket bought on the day. Yet contrary to the 3,000+ cases in which this resulted in a cancellation, Liverpool City Council repeatedly told me they could "find no reason to exercise discretion favourably".
"I have since raised this with my MP and lodged a formal complaint with the Council. I feel cheated. It's a matter of basic fairness. Why is my case being treated so differently to thousands of others?"
A Liverpool City Council spokesperson said: “Anyone who receives a parking ticket can appeal to the council. If they are unsuccessful they can take it to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal.”
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