Undercover police issue fine for 4 cars parked up talking

juehankie

My son and some of his mates were parked up talking in their cars. 6 cars. 
A petrol station carpark. Around the back away from the pumps/ door etc 
Cold engines.
No noise 
No racing
No drugs

All given £100 fine 
No signs.

What's the deal. .. apparently appeal is to the council. 

They've all not longed passed their tests. No idea of this RULE??!?!

born_again

Could be that there is a enforcement order in the area about car meets..

Baldytyke88

Participating in or organizing car cruising events, which involve two or more vehicles gathering for social or recreational purposes, can lead to a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice or a £1,000 fine if convicted in court.

I am old, so I don't have 6 mates, but a meeting of 6 mates with their cars does sound suspicious. Your Son can refuse to pay the £100 and go to court.

chrisw

It's a Public Space Protection Order to stop car meets. It carries a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice enforceable by the magistrates courts.

It would appear to be a bit heavy handed to fine them in the circumstances you describe, but it's technically correct and they may have been making more noise than they thought or admit to.

Umkomaas

As we major on private parking tickets here, Free Traffic Legal Advice forum might be your best bet for police tickets. Register there but please note that a hotmail address may not work - try using a throwaway Gmail account instead if you do have trouble registering and post a new thread; here's your link:

https://www.ftla.uk/index.php?board=2.0

Have a read through some of the other threads, including 'Read this first before posting your case' there before you post your own to get the hang of what information they need from you in your opening post - but as a minimum you will need to post redacted photos/scans of all correspondence you've received from the police (both sides, if appropriate) as they need to see all the small print.

juehankie

chrisw said:

It's a Public Space Protection Order to stop car meets. It carries a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice enforceable by the magistrates courts.

It would appear to be a bit heavy handed to fine them in the circumstances you describe, but it's technically correct and they may have been making more noise than they thought or admit to.

It was a petrol station forecourt. Around the back. No noise to affect anyone. Not a house within a mile 

juehankie

Baldytyke88 said:

Participating in or organizing car cruising events, which involve two or more vehicles gathering for social or recreational purposes, can lead to a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice or a £1,000 fine if convicted in court.

I am old, so I don't have 6 mates, but a meeting of 6 mates with their cars does sound suspicious. Your Son can refuse to pay the £100 and go to court.

How are they to know about this rule? 

juehankie

born_again said:

Could be that there is a enforcement order in the area about car meets..

Not that any of them are aware of...

RAS

Ignorance is no defence, in law.

I do feel it's a bit heavy handed, as informal advice about the risk would be appropriate in the circumstances.

Maybe they need to tackle their police commissioner. It's not going to help them but penalising quiet meets doesn't do much to foster good relationships.

But before anyone wades in, do make sure that none of the others or their cars have previous for the same activity or other road use abuse

Hoenir

The fact that there were undercover police monitoring this location suggests there's been problems in the past. Possibly the garage owners themselves have reported the nuisance. Large groups of young men can be intimidating to deal with when challenged. Such is youth culture these days. 

Baldytyke88

juehankie said:

Baldytyke88 said:

Participating in or organizing car cruising events, which involve two or more vehicles gathering for social or recreational purposes, can lead to a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice or a £1,000 fine if convicted in court.

I am old, so I don't have 6 mates, but a meeting of 6 mates with their cars does sound suspicious. Your Son can refuse to pay the £100 and go to court.

How are they to know about this rule? 

If they are innocent, just let the matter go to court and they can tell the court why 6 guys in cars met at a petrol station. No houses nearby, so why did they meet up?