Fury over £30 parking blitz
Thursday 21st May 2009, 11:00AM BST.
Police came under fire today after punters leaving the sale room at Telford Motor Auctions discovered they had slapped £30 parking tickets on dozens of cars.
Motor dealers and private buyers said they were outraged to be stung with fixed penalty fines for leaving their cars on the grass verges outside the Trench Lock site yesterday.
But police say it is time to crack down on illegal parking after complaints about nuisance, danger and damage to the grass.
The verges along Sommerfield Road have been used for more than 20 years by the hundreds of motor enthusiasts who flock to the motor sales every Wednesday lunchtime.
Once the auction car park is full, drivers cross the double yellow lines and pavement and drive up on to the grass behind.
But after years of turning a blind eye, police officers yesterday stuck tickets under the windscreen wipers of customers’ cars.
They said motorists had to understand that double yellow line zones stretched from building line to building line – so going on to the verge was not a way of evading the law.
Tex Talbot, of Newport, was fuming when he found a ticket on his sister’s Citroen Saxo. “I only came here to do her a favour by booking it into the sale,” he said.
“The car is almost totally on the grass, yet I’ve got a ticket for ‘wilful obstruction’.
“I’ve been coming here 20 years and have always parked here. It doesn’t cause any obstruction or danger.”
Dan Harb, of Shrewsbury, who escaped a ticket, said: “What a disgusting waste of resources. Police are picking on soft targets when they should be catching muggers.”
Nearby resident Ken Green, of Preston Grove, who watched the police in action, said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes. They must have ticketed 40 to 50 cars.”
Police spokesman Chris Ammonds said: “We have had a number of complaints from local people in relation to parking here.
“A notice was put up to warn motorists but that didn’t solve the issue and we have had to take further action.”
He said there had also been concern about cars churning up the grass.
By Peter Johnson
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Aaah come on – they’ve got to be seen doing something to earn their wages – it’s just the same for the burglars who were probably knocking off 20 houses in the area whilst the coppers were playing with their confetti!
Note to the telford police force – I’ve usually got a lot of time for police officers and the abuse you have to put up with but have you really got nothing better to do? Targets down again are they? It’s no wonder people think you are a waste of time – start prioritising – catch the real crims first (you know the ones mugging old ladies!)and worry about the parking later
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Fury over the nasty, evil, jobsworth police out there targetting poor motorists again ….. aka doing their job dealing with motorists repeatedly flouting the law, parking illegally, causing traffic nusiances, obstructions and hazards to law abiding road users, and that includes myself and the many other pedestrians trying to walk along the footpath but can’t because some inconsiderate souls have parked their tatty old Transit pick ups on the path.
I have seen the police down there on many occasions, asking people to move their vehicles and also seen the lorries trying to squeeze into the adjoining industrial units – the HGV drivers must be miracle workers purely by how they manage to get through without causing carnage – about time I say, let’s have the police there every Wednesday and Friday !!!
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Well yes, of course! While they do things like this, they don’t have to worry about chasing real criminals and solving crime, give the poor coppers a break willya lol
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Yet, anougher hard day for the Police doing what they are best at.
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The illegal parking around their is terrible. I support the police in their actions. Either park legally or find some other way of getting there. Then there will be no fixed penalty fines, problem solved.
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Good on the police they are doing the correct job. If the cars were parked legally they would not have been ticketed.
Now the police should ticket drivers who park on pavements outside houses in Telford.
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Come on, illegal parking IS AN OFFENCE, it is a dangerous practise but typical of so many people who have no respect for others. When someone gets knocked down or maybe killed then it will be the fault of the police for allowing it, they can’t win. Message to the police, please do the same outside Madeley fish & chip shop before someone DOES get killed (although you do ignore most of the time)
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Moan, moan, moan. If you break the law then expect to get punished. It is down to the motor auctions to provide adequate parking and the responisibility of the motorist to park legally.
Take up your complaints with TMA.
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The police are not to blame for this – as many people have said, “They are doing their jobs”. Illegal parking is what it says… ILLEGAL!
If motorists obeyed the law, then the police would have time to catch more the serious offenders rather than having to waste their time writing out parking fines! It is all down to the motorist no willing to walk a little further so that they can park legally.
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Maybe it would have been diplomatic and good PR. If the police had gone around and stuck warning notices on illegally parked cars rather than give out parking fines. After all people have been parking there, legally or illegally for 20yrs.
I can remember a similar situation happening to me. I didn’t pay the fine. I went to the police station and asked them why they didn’t ticket the worshipers at the Mosque for doing the same thing!
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Is the motor industry not suffering enough?
The police are all of a tizzy because someone stole their ‘safety scene’ trailer from out of their compound!
In these days when the Police struggle with good public relations I think they would have be well advised to take a leaf out of Brian’s book (re#10)
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I actually live in the Eturia Village around the corner from the car auctions. The amount of near crashes when trying to pull out of the main road is appauling, due to a) cars parked in verges so therefore i have to risk being hit in order to pull out slightly to see if anything coming and b) the amount of cars who feel it is fine to park on the bends within Marlborough road (again another death trap!!). It is about time something was done, although i can sympathise with those who have been given a ticket, a simple warning would have sufficed and repeat offenders fined!
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Brian said:
“I can remember a similar situation happening to me. I didn’t pay the fine. I went to the police station and asked them why they didn’t ticket the worshipers at the Mosque for doing the same thing!”
….and what happened next?
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‘Thousands of pounds of class A drugs have been seized by police and 24 people arrested in a major operation against serious crime across Shrewsbury.’
Now thats the sort of headline we like to see more of. Well done.
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Well done to the Police, its about time they took action and should do it at every auction held.
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As I understand it, vehicles parked or being used illegally are, technically not insured. If that is the case, the ‘poor hard done to motorists’ can think themselves lucky it only cost them £30.
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Stuff like this really does need a two strike system, first a strong caution, which if ignored could lead to a fine.
Or the local authority could contact the business. That way the business in question can deal with the situation in a better way, preventing loss of trade.
Alex.
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Alan, re#16: That is not correct, they are still insured – otherwise it would be that for every speed camera fine there would be a no insurance prosecution.
If fact if you extrapolated your theory, then every time you bumped into someone – technically a motoring offence – then there would be no insurance, hence compulsory third party insurance would be pointless.
Of course this is not so. The illegal parking of a car does not void its insurance.
I like Alex’ idea (#17). How about a ‘suspended fine’? i.e. they don’t pay it, but do if guilty of another offence within say 2 years? To be honest a £30 fine doesn’t deter me, but if I knew the next time it would cost me £60 then that would be different.
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Alex the Police left warning notices a week before they dished out the tickets. Do you not call that warning enough?
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Lucy W – I disagree with you and Alex if you knew the first time you would not be fined you would break the law however if the fine was increased to a 1000 pounds you would make sure you did not break the law
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If those warning noticed were left on cars, a different set of cars would be there the following week.
If I wanted to break the law, i’d break the law regardless of consequences. But on that note, I have no intention of breaking the law.
Were these people even familiar with the law surrounding their parking? A case of misjudgement as to who owns the land could be the cause.
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Lucy – you are nearly correct. If a car is illegally parked or commiting any other offence you mention then for legal purposes it would still be insured. this is for the reason that if you damage another car or person etc they will be able to claim from your insurance. However, if you are speeding, for example, and crash and only damage your own car it is likely the insurance company would not pay up.
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Y Mab: I think we do agree. I am saying that £30 is not a deterrent but a higher fine is. However it would be harsh to fine someone alot for a ‘first offence’.
If a suspended fine system operated, the cars that got warnings the first week, would have had suspended fine that time, then if they were there the next week, got a new fine plus had to pay the suspended fine effectively fined twice.
And those cars that weren’t there the previous week, get the suspended fine. And if stupid enough to re-offend, pay the two fines the next week.
Everyone’s happy – good police/community relations and the persistent offenders dealt with appropriately.
I also feel that speed camera tickets could be dealt with in a similar way.
You see, the current system is powerless – once fined, so what? Carry on regardless. But if offenders had the threat of a suspended fine being due upon a subsequent offence, then the ‘power’ of this would be constantly influencing their behaviour.
It’s like this: today I evaluate the risk to consequences of illegally parking and take the risk. So I get a fine and pay it. Tomorrow, it is the same risk and consequence, so my behaviour is not changed. But…if I have a suspended fine today, tomorrow the risk to consequences is greater as the suspended fine would be due if caught re-offending, and I am more likely to change my behaviour. And of course if I was genuinely remorseful for illegally parking, my behaviour would not need changing so a fine serves no purpose.
May be accept a fine of £30 or opt for a suspended fine of £50?
Sometimes I wonder why I’m not a government advisor when I have such good ideas!
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And the company running the auctions says what ?
Maybe they should be providing adequate parking or a shuttle to somewhere that does if they can’t.
People ticketed should send them to the auction co. to pay.
Stop going to the auctions, they’ll do something pretty quickly – they’ve had 20 years to save up for some changes.
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The Stone Age = Survival of the Fittest
The Modern Age = Survival of the Most Compliant
Rules and laws implemented to preserve life / property / capital / freedom are good. Worthless rules and laws just create more paperwork and more needless criminals. This story is another example of a victimless “crime”.
I’m off to break some speed limits tomorrow.
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Has the law changed.
Back in the 1980s I was on holiday and looking for somewhere to park.
There was a Police Officer standing at the side of the road and I pulled over to ask him where the nearest car park was.
As it happened there was an area behind him that you could park a couple of cars, the policeman said you can park here behind me. I said but there are double yellow lines there I can’t park there? he then stated that I was allowed to park behind the yellow lines and that I would not be breaking the law. I would break the law only if I had parked on the lines or was causing an obstruction for instance blocking someones drive, or obstructing a field of view such as a sight line.
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Tim: I can’t speak for your policy, but I can mine. I am covered for stupidity or accidental damage as they like to call it.
I have made several claims where it was obvious that the damage was caused by my excessive speed. For example, a front wheel of a car does not end up in the door of a car, twisting the whole front off a car, when mounting a kerb at 30mph! Assessor estimated it was 70-80mph which was in fact a conservative estimate. Nevertheless, they paid up for my stupidy.
I also didn’t go on two wheels, scratch the roof on the hedge, come back down, spin and hit a tree going backwards, removing the rear axle doing 20mph down a narrow country lane! They paid up for that as well no questions asked.
It states as a general condition (as I am sure all do) that I must take reasonable care to prevent loss. For example, if I leave the keys in it, I will not be covered if it’s stolen. Driving too fast is merely an accident which if causes loss, is insured – that’s the whole point of insurance – it covers ‘accidental’ damages.
If you line was followed, then every driver ‘at fault’ has technically committed a criminal offence, been unreasonable and therefore would not have cover.
However, if I illegally park on a grass verge, there is no implication that this is unreasonably likely to increase the risk of loss of damage.
In any event, the point raised by this tread was failing to have statutory 3rd Party Insurance and clearly, parking a car, legally or otherwise, does not effect risk of 3rd party loss or damage – I would have though it reduced it!
However, consider a bizarre scenario, where I am the get-a-way driver from a bank robbery, driving my own fully comprehensive car. In the police chase I scrape several cars, exchange detail and subsequently make an insurance claim.
The insurers would decide that my own action was so far beyond the intention and purpose of my policy that my damage was not covered. However, under Statue, they would have to pay for the 3rd Party Losses.
This may seem harsh on the insurers (and premium payers who fund these losses) but if that were not the case, people would not be able to claim for the horrific damages caused by drunk drivers and high speed accidents, if insurers could say, ‘we never intended to insure a drunkard or a boy-racer’. And just what is the point of Compulsory 3rd Party Insurance? Just that. To protect the public against the damages caused by drunks and boy-racers.
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Police are doing their job. There are MAJOR problems around there, Its about time someone did some thing. If you dont want a parking ticket then dont park illegally. Its simple.
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Was there any recorded personal injuries caused by a parked car there?
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Quote from the report– “But police say it is time to crack down on illegal parking after complaints about nuisance, danger and damage to the grass.”
I would just substitute ‘pavements’ for ‘grass’ and exactly the same comment would apply to Oakengates.
Local residents and the Town Council have been complaining about the parking in Market Street, Oakengates, for years. It’s about time the police carried out a similar operation here.
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Harry: I must say for many years it has perplexed me about parking in Oakengates – its seems to be law unto itself.
Has oakengates declared independance from the UK and now has its own parking rules or as it seems, no rules at all? Or is Oakengates a no-go zone for the police?
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I live in the estate behind the auction & to be fair its hell driving up that road on the friday auction night. People just walking across the road & not looking to get to their cars, then pulling off the grass with not a care. Im suprised there hasnt been an accident yet….
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Thank you for that information Robby. So there you have it, no accidents. So it seems that everyone is getting along just fine by taking a little care to negotiate a minor hazard.
Thats just what we need, more people talking responsibility for their use of the road rather than calling the council to lower every speed limit in sight so they can drive around half asleep.
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Lucy W, Your comments about Oakengates being a no go area for the police. Not strictly true, I have seen police in Oakengates, guess where they parked their patrol car— on the pavement of course!!!
I really do dispair at times.
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