A motorhome owner has won a parking battle with a council after being fined for parking over two bays in a car park. The fine was cancelled after the motorist was found to have followed the local authority's own advice written in black and white on its website.
Marc Jon Ward was fined £50 after his motorhome was straddled across two bays at Milehouse Park and Ride car park in Plymouth. He appealed the fine twice because he felt he had not breached any of the parking rules – and has now had it overturned by Plymouth City Council.
The fine had been issued because he has parked across more than one bay. But the advice on the council's website said this was allowed for long vehicle and motorhome owners, PlymouthLive reports.
The guidance says: "Parking is available in this car park for motorhomes and long wheel-base vans (i.e. those vehicles that will occupy more than one space as long as they are parked within the marked bays). No payment is required for parking at this location."
Marc said: "I was annoyed with a parking ticket on my motorhome while parking at [Milehouse] free car park. Having carefully read the Plymouth City Council's website before deciding to park, we stayed within the lines and it clearly states long vans are allowed to overhang within the lines.
"I came back to my motorhome to find a ticket for this exact reason. I'm shocked they'd do this as many motorhomes use this car park and it's literally advertised on the Plymouth council's website as the one to use. I don't take the mickey with it."
He added that he parked there from 8am until 4pm and said before leaving he checked to make sure where he was parked his motorhome was suitable. After PlymouthLive contacted the council for comment, they realised their blunder, and has since amended the guidance to make it clear there are no designated motorhome bays at Milehouse.
A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “All vehicles at Milehouse Park and Ride must be parked within a single marked bay. If your vehicle is longer than a standard bay our advice would be to use Coypool Park and Ride, where we recently introduced eight 12-metre long bays for motorhomes.
“There are no designated motorhome bays at Milehouse and we have amended our website to make this clear. We will also be cancelling this customer’s PCN."
Talking about how he felt after the cancellation, Marc said: "At least common sense prevailed." He also said he felt 'happy' with the outcome.
