A pensioner has been slapped with a £70 surprise fine for parking in the same spot he has used for three decades.
Mick Carter, 70, was left shocked after coming back home from a holiday and finding a nasty surprise – a parking ticket.
The pensioner bought his home in Maidstone, Kent, 35 years ago, and has been parking on a nearby speed ramp since it was constructed three decades ago.
He said: ‘I couldn’t believe it. There are no yellow lines on the road, no parking restrictions, no notices to say you can’t park there.
‘The ramp doesn’t have those dimpled paving slabs to tell blind people that it’s a crossing place.’
He said he he always makes sure his Ford Kuga is not on the pavement to avoid blocking pedestrians.
But last week he received a letter saying he had been issued a £70 ticket for parking in a ‘special enforcement area on part of a carriageway raised to meet the level of a footway, cycle or track.’
The 70-year-old questioned why he had been fined when ‘everybody parks on the ramps when necessary.’
‘Parking can be difficult here,’ he said, adding that he has two-space parking in front of his house which are taken up by the family’s caravan and a second car.
However, the retired locksmith was not going to accept the ticket without putting up a fight, so he ‘went down the road and knocked on the houses at either end of the other speed ramps to see if anyone else has had a ticket, but no one has, just me.’
When he appealed the penalty, he was told a week later it had been issued incorrectly.
Still, the experience was ‘pretty stressful,’ he said.
An email from the Civil Enforcement Team said: ‘We agree that the penalty was incorrectly issued and I’m sorry for our mistake and any inconvenience caused.’
Mick said: ‘It was pretty stressful. As I said, I park there all the time, so I didn’t know if a load more penalty charges were going to arrive.
‘It did seem to contradict everything that I had read on the internet.
‘I’d still like to know how I was issued with the ticket in the first place.
‘Since there are no yellow lines in Plains Avenue, there would appear to be no reason for a parking officer to come here.’
However, now Maidstone Borough Council has said the initial penalty was issued correctly.
A spokesperson said: ‘The initial penalty charge notice was issued correctly.
‘When the driver appealed against it, the appeals officer made the decision to waive the notice with a warning.
‘However, an error by the appeals officer meant the incorrect notice letter was issued, which has led to confusion around the case. MBC apologies for any confusion caused.’
The reason for the surprise fine was because Mick lives in a Special Enforcement Area, meaning under traffic management law, a penalty charge can be issued if the offence occurs within the special area.
The council added that both where the level of the footway or verge had been dropped to the level of the carriageway and also where the carriageway had been raised to the level of the footpath or verge it ‘assists pedestrians crossing a road, cyclists entering or leaving the carriageway and vehicles crossing a footway, cycle track or verge in order to access off-road parking.’
The contravention requires no signage or road lining.
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