£250 penalty charge for 'parking on a dropped kerb'

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£250 penalty charge for 'parking on a dropped kerb' - **UPDATE**

OUTCOME HERE



I was extremely annoyed yesterday to find that my car had been picked up by the council, from pretty much outside my house and taken to the car pound for clipping the neighbour's dropped kerb. This was at 8:20am on a Saturday. I was asleep and had no idea anything had happened until I realised my car was not where I had parked it the previous night!

I parked my car at about 8pm on Friday night. There wasn't quite space to park it wholly outside my own house, and so the rear end was stretching slightly onto the neighbours' property (we're talking about a foot here). I live on a terraced street, this really isn't abnormal. And to make matters worse, half the street is being dug up to replace the gas pipes, making it nearby impossible to find any parking at all. Everyone seems very understanding about this and so there hasn't really been much of an issue before.

Moving on...a few seconds after I had parked, the neighbour whose drive I had overun appeared at the door. She glanced at me and my car, and then closed the door again. I thought nothing more of it went inside. Next day I find my car has been towed.

I'm not defending myself, I'll happily admit I was in the wrong. But the fact is, the council will not have come to pick my car up unless someone at the neighbouring property complained about it. This is firmly stated in the Transport for London Act. I just find it hard to believe that someone could look me in the eye, see where I've parked, not approach me whatsoever, and then go ahead and complain about it. It's not as if I go out and about specifically to annoy my neighbours and block drives. In fact, as I was fully aware of where I had parked; I made certain that she was able to get out of her driveway perfectly easily. I end up with a £250 fine, great! Just seems a bit morally wrong. That is all. :(

Let me just make it clear; I'm not asking for any kind of sympathy. I know I was in the wrong. Just want a bit of a discussion on the matter, and others similar.

All the best
 
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councils = jobsworths and cash cow motorists, your neighbours are obviously dogooders and the polite thing to do would be to ask you to move the car, if you ever observe them breaking a similar bylaw then you know what to do now.

I sometimes wonder what has happened to common sense in this country
 
That's ridiculous.

Are you on bad terms with your neighbour? Is there a way to resolve it by talking with her and getting her to reverse the decision somehow?

It's expected that roadworks will obviously cause disruption to parking in a neighbourhood and that with a little bit of common sense and communication, the laws should be a bit more lenient during times like these. Unfortunately, councils usually live by the book and probably enjoy their little power trips. Jobsworths. :rolleyes:

I had a similar situation last month and ended up paying the fine. Wasn't as large as yours though - I would definitely not pay up without an appeal.
 
Only one thing to do, that's keep your eyes open and return the favour :)

I take it you're not on good terms with your neighbours then. Have you had run-ins about parking before?
 
I'd have a quiet word with her asking politely why she didn't see fit to ask you to move the car, which you gladly would have done.

Then, as others have said, return the favour...does she ever put the bins out too early?
 
Yeh someone reported me for parking on a yellow line, how do i know? no traffic cops go through that area... i saw some old man watching me get out.

Blatently was him... got slapped with 35quid fine.
 
That does seem a bit off. As Jonny said, I take it you don't get on with her (or vise versa). Any normal neighbour would either have not cared / noticed or would have a quiet word.
 
Duke said:
That does seem a bit off. As Jonny said, I take it you don't get on with her (or vise versa). Any normal neighbour would either have not cared / noticed or would have a quiet word.
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Yeh its majorly out of bounds to do that, i cant see myself doing it to someone specially if they are going to get a two fifety penalty for it!

thats harsh!

Go burn her bins.
 
She could have at least demanded £125 out of you! Seems win win to me! :rolleyes:

People always park in front of dads garages though, not a problem as thy always leave enough room to get 1 car out.

Finding a space isnt exactly easy, i can't understand why anyone would do this!
 
Get a compressed gas warning diamond to stick on the back of your car, IIRC something tells there is some regulation which stops them picking up vehicles containing such cylinders... get an oxidation warning one as well if you want to make it look a bit more realstic *and* play on the sympathy vote...
 
How dare you invade on someone's parking space?! That's worse than drinking someone's beer.
 
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