Thousands of London parking tickets that simply disappeared

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

Something rather strange happened in August 2006 in regard London parking tickets. A huge proportion of red route tickets seemed to go missing!

Transport for London (TFL) looks after London parking tickets on red routes covering section 25 traffic London parking offences (if a vehicle is “parked in a loading place during restricted hours without loading”) and section 30 London parking offences (when a vehicle is “parked for longer than permitted”).

Since London parking tickets rose to 60,459 in August 2006, which was up from July 2006 when London parking tickets issued were 52,224, why did the parking tickets on ‘red routes’ seem to disappear?

According to the TFL there were no London parking tickets issued for sections 25 and 30 parking offences since July 2007, and section 46 parking tickets issued since August 2006 seemed to have suddenly increased significantly. Section 46 parking offences are issued for being “stopped where prohibited (on a red route or clearway)”.

The TFL confirmed this year to Guardian newspapers that a parking ticket was not valid if it had been written out for the wrong parking offence. (Unfortunately, if you did pay your London parking ticket you are not entitled to reimbursement).

TFL decided to completely ‘cross off’ sections 25 and 30 London parking offences back in 2007.
A spokesman for the TFL told Guardian Newspapers:

“TFL has a policy of continually reviewing our red route enforcement strategy to ensure that it is fair, appropriate and easy to understand. In 2006, we took the decision to simplify our processes and only use one code when issuing penalty charge notices (PCNs) to those motorists parked illegally on the red routes.

To avoid London parking tickets altogether and the expense and time consuming exercise of putting yourself at risk of a parking offence whilst trying to find car parking in London, call our team at 247 Parking to find parking in London at a great price.

Central London parking fees set to rise in 2010

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

London parking fees are set to rise substantially across a number of central London key areas and this will make a large impact on regular London parking for many motorists.

Westminster City Council is at the centre of the new rises for car parking in London and this is the first rise in London parking fees that has been seen since the previous rise in 2006.

Now any motorists who will be travelling to certain areas of central London are to face these London parking price rises by 2010.

Westminster City Council confirmed that their new parking prices were to come into effect across seven major London parking zones which include West End parking and Soho parking raises, with the possibility of Westminster parking price rises to follow soon.

The new “dual London parking system” is to be part of a pilot scheme which is to last for six months and it meant to encourage more motorists to some of London’s busiest borough areas during the less busy times of the day when car parking is less in demand.

Car parking in the West End and car parking in Soho is to increase from the current £4 an hour to £4.40 per hour during the hours of 0830 to 1329 BST. If the pilot scheme proves successful it will roll out to car parking in Westminster.

To keep London parking costs at a minimum and guarantee yourself a parking space in a secured car park, contact us at 247 Parking.

London parking tickets – 2009 statistics

Monday, October 12th, 2009

Recent figures have shown that the number of parking tickets issued for wrongful London parking have actually dropped in comparison to statistics taken between 2007 – 2008. However, even though there has been a drop of 10% London parking tickets issued in 2009 there is still a staggering 5.5 million people who received a parking fine between April 2008 and March 2009.

London Councils report that London parking tickets owed between the aforementioned dates reached a staggering £5,466,219 which was paid out by motorists.

The statistics that were uncovered show that London councils were more likely to penalise motorists who were breaking contraventions for the higher band of parking penalties. 75% of London parking penalties that were issued during 2008 – 09 were issued for parking breaches that occurred in the council’s top penalty band which was originally introduced during July 2007.

In 2008 – 2009 there was a 20% drop on the previous year in the amount of motorists that received penalties for driving in bus lane penalties.

Mike Fisher for the transport division at London Council commented: “It appears that people are beginning to heed the warnings that if they break the rules they will get a ticket. At the same time, councils are successfully making more efforts to focus their activities on parking contraventions.”

To avoid parking penalties in London contact us at 247 Parking for a wide range of Central London parking options providing secure parking in London at affordable prices where you need them.

What are the exemptions to parking on yellow lines?

Friday, October 9th, 2009

When it comes to parking tickets there are around 40 reasons for you to be issued with a parking ticket.
One of the most likely reasons for motorists to receive a parking ticket, particularly when it comes to parking in London, is when your vehicle is parked on a yellow line.

On the face of it there seems to be a few exemptions which allow parking on yellow lines, but when you scrutinise the exceptions there are actually few other than displaying a disabled person’s badge. If you have a blue badge then you are able to wait on a yellow line (if there is no sign showing loading restrictions) for up to three hours.

Yellow line parking exemptions include:

- If a person is loading or unloading a vehicle or picking up another person. However, this should only take a
few minutes.

- Emergency vehicles such as ambulances are exempt.

- Local authority vehicles who are exercising statutory power are exempt.

- Vehicles that need to be filled with petrol, oil, air or water in an emergency are exempt.

- When a vehicle has broken down and it is beyond the driver’s control is exempt.

- A vehicle which is removing or deterring the obstruction to traffic is exempt.

-A vehicle that has been ordered to wait there by a police constable in uniform or a vehicle that has a permit from the council is exempt.

To avoid an expensive parking ticket, particularly if you are often parking in London, you need to contact a company that can provide cheap parking in London for an affordable price. Call the experts at 247 Parking.

How to deal with an unfair parking ticket

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

These days if you don’t park your car in a safe spot for parking in London or choose secure car parking in London, you could be putting yourself in a position where you are increasing the chances of getting a parking ticket.

Once a parking ticket has been issued it is completely impossible for a parking attendant or traffic warden to cancel it so it is not worth arguing your case on the day with the traffic warden.

Before you leave your London parking spot try and collect as much support for your case to use in evidence. If you regularly use parking in London it is an idea to keep a disposable camera in your vehicle so you can take a photo of any faded road markings or misleading signs.

Next, contact the issuing authority in writing as soon as you can and always be polite but firm, presenting any evidence that you have. Regardless of whether your parking ticket was issued by a traffic warden or a local authority they are obligated to be fair in dealing with aggrieved motorists. Should the authority responsible take a long time to answer you then it places you in a stronger position to pursue the matter in court.

An adjudicator will only cancel your parking ticket if it was incorrectly issued. Examples of these are if the road signs are wrong or missing.

To avoid the chance of being issued a parking ticket and for the cheapest parking, it is best to secure your London parking beforehand, so speak to 247 Parking to guarantee car parking in London in a secured environment.