parking ticket after police ok'd parking

MarkyMarkD

telly-addict wrote:

Oh, were you there then? I didn't see you?!

What are you talking about? Nobody EVER "has" to park anywhere (excepting when they break down, I suppose, but that isn't relevant here). You "had" to go to that shop? You "had" to park illegally to do so? I don't have to be there to be able to point out that isn't true.

MarkyMarkD

hjb wrote:

As I turned into the road where I eventually parked the policeman stopped each car in turn and said that it was ok to park on double yello lines as long as no obstruction was caused.

Yes he did tell me it was ok.
No I didn't ask.
Yes he was clearly on traffic control.

A police officer doesn't have the authority to over-ride parking regulations, as far as I am aware. You should complain to the police about what happened but it doesn't, per se, give you a defence against the parking offence which you did commit.

Helen_from_yorkshire

Years ago I parked in a local car park on a Bank Holiday Monday. The parking info board was not clear about whether I had to pay and display or not so I asked a local policeman if I had to pay. He said I did not have to pay and display as bank holiday but, took his number just in case. On my return to my car I had a parking ticket!! Luckily, as I had his number I went to the local Police Station who got in touch with the bobby who confirmed I had asked him about parking that morning and the ticket was withdrawn.

In your case, unless you got the Police Officer's number you may be out of luck. I imagine there would have been loads of Police at this event so its not as if they could easily pinpoint which officer told you the incorrect information.

Hunnymonster

Of course it won't matter in the slightest if you were told it was ok by the police, if the parking control has been taken over by the local authority (and then farmed out to a ticket target company)

MyUserNamesTaken

Had something similar the other day, whilst in Norwich. Asked a policeman if there was anywhere to park, as I needed to run into a shop. Policeman told my OH to park in the bay for orange badge holders (disabled) and stay with the car whilst I pop down the road to the shop. He went on to tell my OH to drive around the block should a traffic warden come along. Suffice to say, we didn't do it.

Vic_980

The Op is asking for moneysaving advice on whether they should appeal in order to get this ticket revoked. They're not asking for advice on whether or not is it legal to park on double yellow lines.

This used to be a great website with some great money saving advice on the forums, but now I'm afraid that, like everywhere else, it is just full of negative people who like telling other people off.

If people don't have constructive money saving advice to offer, then why bother posting in the first place?

Thats what it's for - moneysavingexpert

hjb - go ahead with your appeal. If you get the ticket revoked then it was worth the cost of trying. That's money saving.

Baz-Bee

Vic_980 wrote:

The Op is asking for moneysaving advice on whether they should appeal in order to get this ticket revoked. They're not asking for advice on whether or not is it legal to park on double yellow lines.

This used to be a great website with some great money saving advice on the forums, but now I'm afraid that, like everywhere else, it is just full of negative people who like telling other people off.

If people don't have constructive money saving advice to offer, then why bother posting in the first place?

Thats what it's for - moneysavingexpert

hjb - go ahead with your appeal. If you get the ticket revoked then it was worth the cost of trying. That's money saving.

So when people ask for advice we just ignore them if that advice is perhaps not what is seen to be all sweetness and light do we? Or do we lie and say yes of course you were right to kill that class of young children, it is just that nasty old policeman and politicians spoiling all the fun.

Sometimes the real world means we have to be told things we do not want to hear. It is not being negative it is called being realistic. Occassionally when you break the law there may be a way of getting off the hook and that is why advice is sought, but if there is not we must be prepared to accept that as well.

Bossyboots

If there were other drivers getting tickets after parking on those lines and they also appeal, the council should have sufficient evidence to believe that drivers were indeed told they could park there. It is definitely worth appealing in the hope that enough of the other drivers do as well. If several people appeal on the same basis, they are all backing up each other's contention that they accepted what the police officer said.

As has been pointed out, the police officer did not have the authority to tell people they could park there but common sense dictates that for the most part people will assume that if a police officer tells you to do something then it must be okay. I agree that the council may have ensured parking attendants were there on the night and an appeal is not likely to succeed if that really is the case but it is worth a try.

khizman

Queenie wrote:

Parking issues are nothing to do with the Police, it's down to the Council. Nor do parking attendants liaise with the Police over these matters.

not exactly,
it depends on the place, here in sheffield the illegal parking used to be enforced by parking officers regulated by the police but recently the council took it over and surprise surprise the amount of tickets issued has gone up by 10 times or something stupid like that.

MarkyMarkD

Vic_980 wrote:

The Op is asking for moneysaving advice on whether they should appeal in order to get this ticket revoked. They're not asking for advice on whether or not is it legal to park on double yellow lines.

This used to be a great website with some great money saving advice on the forums, but now I'm afraid that, like everywhere else, it is just full of negative people who like telling other people off.

If people don't have constructive money saving advice to offer, then why bother posting in the first place?

Thats what it's for - moneysavingexpert

hjb - go ahead with your appeal. If you get the ticket revoked then it was worth the cost of trying. That's money saving.

Well, Vic, you and the two people who have thanked you for your post may disagree, but other MSEs seem to agree with me that there's a significant difference between:

(1) money-saving - which is fine and admirable and good; and
(2) seeking to avoid paying things which you are rightfully liable to pay for - e.g. tax, fines, debts, parking penalties and the like.

I know that this is a marginal case because of the misleading "advice" from someone purportedly in authority - albeit apparently acting outside that authority - and I should certainly complain heavily and hard to the police about the actions of this officer, even to the extent of asking the police to refund the cost of the parking fine. But that doesn't undermine the fact that the parking penalty itself was fairly given for committing a genuine offence, despite the mitigating circumstances.

As the previous post says, there's no point people coming on MSE posting "what do people think about this" and then complaining if they get any answer other than they want, which has happened on a number of threads.

And posts are not just read by the original poster, but by 100s of others, so a rounded view of the position is more useful than a "yes, you are quite right, you shouldn't pay your fine" one which doesn't weigh up the issues involved.