Delight for window cleaner Bob
A WINDOW cleaner has hailed a 'victory for common sense' after his town centre parking fine was overturned on appeal.
Bob Essam, 48, of Torquay, was given a £70 ticket for parking his van in Fleet Street one morning while he was cleaning a local shop.
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A NCP-employed parking official left the ticket on his windscreen saying he was not allowed to stop unless he was unloading.
Bob said the actions of officials were driving people away from the town centre and making it impossible for workers to carry out vital maintenance.
Now, six months after he got the ticket, he has been told to ignore the fine by an independent adjudicator who said parking rules in the area are not clear enough.
Bob said: "I could have just accepted it like most people, got a bit angry and let them have the £70. But I thought it was so unjust that I had to make a stand.
"Thankfully the adjudicator listened to what I had to say and agreed with me that the rules were not clear. I had started to lose hope that common sense had gone out of the window but this shows if you fight for what is right you get a reward.
"It's a victory for common sense."
Bob's problems started when he stopped his van outside Topshop and went inside to clean the floors.
He had stopped in the same area for the past 30 years but on this particular morning fell foul of a Civil Enforcement Officer who slapped a ticket on his windscreen.
Bob said it was 'diabolical' that some officials were not prepared to listen to reason and were interpreting the rules too strictly.
He added: "The town centre is dying on its feet and people are deserting it. Some of these parking officials need to be told they are not the only ones with jobs to do."
A Torbay Council spokesperson said: "Torbay Council appreciates that window cleaners have a difficult job to do.
"As such we have offered dispensation to window cleaners to use vans in Fleet Street before 10am for the pumping of water.
"On this occasion it would appear that Mr Essam was not clear to the extent which this dispensation applied and as such this Penalty Charge Notice was issued.
"On the advice of the adjudicator we will be contacting Mr Essam direct to once again advise how to operate in Fleet Street in such a way that complies with the parking restrictions and therefore avoid the issue of further PCNs."
8 Comments
by beth, torquay
Sunday, January 04 2009, 3:40PM
“well done dad for defeeting them once again you should have the right to park down there cuz u work there. And all them wierd traffic wardens will learn one day that everyone hates them and quit there job (as if) but lets hope they learn by this!!!”
by Hrumph!, Torbay
Tuesday, December 30 2008, 10:41PM
“Another defeat for the councils parking services! That will teach them! Very well done Bob for taking the matter to appeal. If only more people would take the council on they would be snowed under and would not be able to cope. Unclear signage and lines that do not meet strict regulations seem to be the norm for this council. I recently challenged them on the issue of markings in a parking bay. Of course at first they denied there was anything wrong but soon saw sense when I quoted them all the applicable regulations that they were in contravention of! A real victory for common sense here. Keep up the good work and lets rid this borough of NCP and other such idiots forever!!”
by coasterbay, paignton
Tuesday, December 30 2008, 8:45PM
“is parking on torquay seafront on a bank holiday classed as sunday parking or a monday etc for ncp to give a ticket like they did on boxing day. to several cars. so then you have to fight your case or is bank holiday just a normal working day.”
by tommy, paignton
Tuesday, December 30 2008, 7:32PM
“cool. now im gonna park my car there and hang a bucket from the boot. what a load of dog poo!!”
by tommy, paignton
Tuesday, December 30 2008, 7:31PM
“cool. now im gonna park my car there and hang a bucket from the boot. what a load of crap!!”
by squirreleater, brixham
Tuesday, December 30 2008, 4:39PM
“If it takes 6 months to sort out 1 ticket, imagine how long it would take if "most people" appealed!”
by W Ward, Poole, Dorset
Tuesday, December 30 2008, 1:58PM
“Well done Bob.
Only a tiny percentage of people take advantage of the appeals process while Torbay - and most other towns - get away with issuing tickets where that are not enforcable because of flagrant disregard by the authorities regarding signage, road markings and Traffic Control Orders not being correct.
Lets face it - tickets are a tax and little to do with 'Keeping the traffic moving'.”
by Lazz, Exeter
Tuesday, December 30 2008, 12:49PM
“This is normal practice in London. As an ex licensee for Whitbread, beer delivery lorrys are always issued with tickets as the lorrys are in the middle of being unloaded of beer. Whitbread in turn, have for a while employed a special team whose job is soley to deal with parking tickets, most of which they get away with, but many still stand. The cost of these ticket fines are underwritten by the cost of the beer, in other words, passed on to the customer. This practice will become normal in the south west in time.”