Random Fixed Penalty Notice

[danielson81]

Hi there,

Today I received a letter from the Police saying my car was seen 6 weeks ago in Eastbourne not displaying a tax disc (Failing to exhibit Excise licence) and I was issued a fix penalty notice for £30, as I have not paid it I must pay the full amount or go to court.

Now here are the discrepancies:

a) The letter says I own a Suzuki Vehicle, and after phoning the Police they said the ticket was for a Suzki Vitara. I own a Fiat Cinquecento!

b) I live in Brighton and haven't been to Eastbourne for ages! (although its a coincidence its a nearby town).

c) The time and date this offence occurred I was at work in Brighton, with my car outside.

The only thing correct is the registration number and I am baffled to why they couldn't check these things before they chased this up as they obviously got my name and address from somewhere (DVLA?).

I phoned the Police up and was told to put everything in writing, which I have, along with a copy of my log book to prove the car isn't mine.

I just wondered has anyone heard or experienced anything like this before, I get the impression it is down to me to prove I am innocent.

EDIT: I just put several number plates similar to mine into an RAC car checker site and there is a very similar one that matches the description of the car . Eg, my reg is X303 XXX the one that matches is X313 XXX . Hmmm

[ScarletPimpernel]

This happened with one of our official cars - police letter stating that the vehicle had been seen driving the wrong way down a one way street in Leicester, when in fact our car was actually in another city altogether. The police didn't ask for any proof, just a letter stating the details - the sergeant I spoke to thought it was most likely to be an error taking down the number. Nothing more ever heard.