Parking fine placed on car where permit is hidden by snow

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Posted: Wed Feb 07, 2018 11:12 pm

A council has issued a £70 parking fine to a driver whose permit was hidden by the snow on his car's windscreen.

Oliver Claxton, from Chester Green, in Derby, who had been working away in London for a few months, was surprised when he returned home to find he had been fined.

He said he had never moved the permit from his car, so has challenged the fine from Derby City Council.

The council said it was looking into it and would respond to Mr Claxton soon.

Mr Claxton said if the traffic warden had swept the snow from the screen, they would have seen the ticket

Mr Claxton, who works at the BBC, said: "I thought it was odd because if I wasn't displaying it I would have got a parking ticket every day because I had left my car there while I was in London. I was thinking what could it possibly be that meant they couldn't see the permit on this particular day?

"When you go on the website they have the photographs they took and the reason the permit wasn't visible was because it had snowed overnight and the windscreen was covered in snow.

"I just laughed. It was ridiculous."

He added that if they had swept the snow away, they would have seen the permit.

Sue Meakin, who worked as a traffic warden for 30 years, said she thought it was "silly" he had been fined.

Derby City Council said: "We're not able to comment on individual cases but we are looking into the challenge and will be responding to the individual directly

Baiting Guru Joined: 31 Jan 2007 Posts: 12237

Guilty.

Posted: Thu Feb 08, 2018 12:19 am

As a Province of Ontario Enforcement Officer or POO Cop for short I ain't buying the story mainly because it never snows there but rains incessantly.

For evidence I call in the great Historical crew "The Carry On Gang".

Posted: Fri Feb 09, 2018 8:45 am

It never snows in Houston either. But it did two weeks ago.

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 10:11 pm

Just for OSCARPILES

Snow-covered car permit fine cancelled by Derby council
9 February 2018

Derby City Council

Oliver Claxton said he had never moved the permit from his car, so challenged the fine from Derby City Council
A driver who got a parking fine because his permit was hidden by snow on the windscreen has had the penalty cancelled.
Oliver Claxton, of Derby, returned home after working away in London for a few months to find a penalty notice.
He said his permit was always on display, in Chester Green, so he decided to dispute it.
Derby City Council has cancelled the £70 fine and accepted that snow and ice can obscure a permit's visibility.

Derby City Council said officers were advised not to touch vehicles to avoid possible complaints that they have caused damage
Mr Claxton, who works at the BBC, said: "Common sense has prevailed and the challenge has been upheld - I don't have to pay £70, which is good news."
He said a letter from the council explained it was an administrative error, because the official checked Mr Claxton's number plate on a handheld device and it showed no permit was assigned to the car.
However, it later emerged the number plate had been recorded incorrectly, with the last digit stated as a zero not the letter "O".
'Just a mistake'
The letter stated: "I have asked the manager in charge of the admin staff who process the permits to remind them that British vehicle registration numbers do not end in a number but a letter, to avoid this happening again."
Mr Claxton said: "It is just a mistake isn't it?"
Derby City Council said: "Drivers are responsible for ensuring that permits are clearly displayed, but clearly snow and ice can temporarily obscure the visibility of a permit.
"Officers are advised not to touch vehicles to avoid possible complaints that they have caused any damage."
The council said it did not comment on individual cases, but all representations were duly considered and common sense applied.

Derby City Council's policy
In permit areas, if a permit is not visible the civil enforcement officers (CEOs) will check the registration against the database on their handheld devices.
In non permit areas, if the CEOs are unable to see if a vehicle has displayed a valid pay and display ticket, even from a side window, because they do not remove any snow or debris, they cannot issue a penalty charge notice.

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