Bristow & Sutor

[devilzwishbone]

I currently have 2 parking tickets against my name for parking on Double Yellow lines.

 

1) Behind the job centre / Dudley Courts

2) Parking outside my home

 

At first I was going to pay the £25 charges however I found out that under the Traffic Signs Regulations & General Directions Act 2002 that there are set guidelines for road markings.

 

If they fail to comply with these regulations then the road makings are deemed to be illegal.

 

Therefore as you may already know double yellow lines that are broken or not properly maintained / do not have the correct T junction markings would be deemed as illegal road markings.

 

Parking ticket no 1. (Nov 2008)

 

Has broken lines big enough for a foot to bridge the gaps, photos were taken of this and also cover the entrance to the courts car park.

 

Legally it is also illegal to cross Double Yellow lines and therefore every one parked in the courts car park should be fined also. (But lets face it I dont think the council are brave enough to fine a judge & their panel)

 

Parking ticket no 2. (Feb 2009)

Now only was these lines in worse conditions and got photo evidence but the council have since felt the need to repaint these lines.

 

My argument on this is, if they feel the lines were legally enforsable then why take the time and trouble to repaint the lines.

 

But they wasnt, plus at the entrance to the parking lot to the building, there have been road works happening in the past, where they failed to repaint the double yellow lines, leaving them without the correct T junction markings.

 

I appealed to the Ajudicators but my appeal reached them outside the 28 days, my argument to this was because of the delay in postage around the begining of the year

 

I also dissagree there should be a time limit, if your not guilty, or liable to pay for the fine legally, what difference should it make if I appear within 28 days or 28 months, the outcome should still be based on the facts of the time and event the contravention happened.

 

If lets say I appealed din time and I was let off for 1 parking ticket, why should I have to pay for the 2nd in the exact same circumstances

 

Now whilst I agree signs are there for a purpose, the first ticket was obtained whilst parked for no longer than 10 minutes, was not obstructing access to emergency services should they have needed to gain access, was not blocking in any one or inconsiderate for individuals right to access carparks or cabinets etc.

 

I was simply parked for 10 mins in a culdy sack / access lane

(as show on google earth link here)

 

The charges then went from £25 to £75 to then £115 each

It was then passed to Bristow & Sutor whom refuse to look into the matter only follow up on the charges.

 

since this I had Bristow & Sutor come out to my property whom were refused entry, the cheeky bugger then buzzed another flat to gain access to the building and knocked on my door after I told him to get lost

 

Plus I had a girl over who wants to be interrupted then lol

 

He then took a note of my car reg plate and posted a fine through my door.

 

I then contacted them stating the situation again to them and CC dudley council into this and they still refused to look into it coming back saying

 

You had your rights to appeal and you failed to write to them within the time specified therefore you must pay

 

Dudley council ignore the Traffic Signs & Road Signs Regulations Act and simply respond with, well you knew double yellow lines shoudlnt be parked on as per the high way code therefore you must pay

 

I have threatened Bristow & Sutor with having them done for harrasment under the Protection Against Harrasment Act 1997 but they claim they are excempt from this act, but when they responded they quoted a section which said they are also included in this act

 

Since then Bristow & Sutor refuse to discuss the matter with me

 

They have then claimed to visit my property on 2 occasions where when I checked with the concirerge of the building they stated no body had been to my property or attempted to ring my buzzer as the building is surrunded by CCTV, to get to my property you would be caught on at least 10-15 different CCTV cameras between the parking lot and my front door

 

So now there trying to add charges for visits that never took place.

Upon calling them to tell them I was in the property, and I wont be paying any how as I still dissagree on the charges, they said their cars are fitted with tracking devices so they will be able to tell if they attended or not

 

There sending complaint forms out to me.

The charges now stand at almost £700.00

 

I am in process of starting my own business from home in which the car is important to me, and was contemplating registering the company as a LTD

 

protecting the vehicle and most contents inside the property but some people say depends on who the director is.

 

Any feedback or help on this one people

I also spoeken to a solicitor who is a friend of mine who stated if the lines were broken I am right in saying im not legally liable to pay

[sailor sam]

Hi there,

 

For any sort of advice on this, you will need to provide the following info;

 

A) Exact location of the alleged parking offences to enable us to see if they are covered by Google Street View where we can see the lines/signage. Or you can post pics of the locations showing these features.

 

B) Post copies of the PCNs (after obscuring any personal details/VRM)

 

Can I point out that your comments about 'only being parked for 10 minutes in a Cul-De-Sac, not blocking any entrances or obstructing emergancy vehicles ect' are irrelevant. The only issues will be whether the lines/signage are compliant as well as the PCNs themselves. The timescale may also be a problem.

[devilzwishbone]

For obvious reasons I am a bit reluctant to give out a PNC number as its linked to my details and wondering how me giving this info can help

 

But as for streets

 

Gads Lane - Dudley (dy1)

Access road from Baptist End Rd / Swan Street (By flats) (dy2)

[sailor sam]

Thats why I said obsure all personal details on the PCNs before you post them.

Unfortunately without seeing them it will be hard to advise you whether they are enforecable or not.

 

Also, I have just Googled both locations and neither are covered by Street View so I cannot see the lines or signage. Again, unless you provide some pics showing the relevant features (lines/signage) where you were parked, it will be hard to advise you.

 

One thing I did pick up on however, you say 'access road from Baptist End Road/Swan Street'. Is this 'access road' part of the public highway (i.e. an adopted road)?

[devilzwishbone]

How do I upload pictures on here

[sailor sam]

Use this link; Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

[devilzwishbone]

 

Example of no correct end markings on the double yellow lines due to road works

[devilzwishbone]

 

Conditions of double yellow lines Gads Lane Dudley (Ticket no 1)

[devilzwishbone]

 

One of Dudley councils excuses was that Double yellow lines are there to prevent obstruction to emergency services such as police, fire brigade and ambulances, other services such as electricians, waste collection etc

 

Here you can see were my car was parked and how access to the barrier to job centre car park was clear and rear of courts was clear

 

Clearly no obstruction or poor attitude or consideration for others

[devilzwishbone]

 

Road sign coupled with poor condition of road markings, incase they tried saying its another road

[devilzwishbone]

 

Ticket No 2

This is further on down were road markings are more visible however if you focus towards the back end of the lines you see how that rapidly start to fade and more importantly how the T junction markings are missing due to road works, failed ot be maintained / repainted

[devilzwishbone]

 

Photo evidence supplied by Dudley Council, taken on the day of the contravention for Gads lane - Ticket no1

[devilzwishbone]

 

Gads Lane - Dudley (ticket no1)

[hallowitch]

please bear in mind when complain to B&S about there fees that they cant charge multiple fees when collecting more than 1 parking ticket

[devilzwishbone]

please bear in mind when complain to B&S about there fees that they cant charge multiple fees when collecting more than 1 parking ticket

 

 

Seriously?

Because they have been they have been treating each one on its own individual merrit

[devilzwishbone]

Ill upload the access to baptist end road pictures when I find the email with the attatchments on be around about february 2009 I need to look back.

 

Its been an ongoing battle with them

 

Any one else know if there excempt from the protection against harrasment act 1997

[devilzwishbone]

 

Conditions of double yellow lines on ticket no 2

Access road to Baptist End Rd/ Swan Street

 

I have images but they have my car and other peoples cars on it

[hallowitch]

Seriously?

Because they have been they have been treating each one on its own individual merrit

 

this is a well known court case its for council tax but it is used for parking tickets also

Detailed Assessment Judgment of Throssell v Leeds City Council where the District Judge ruled as follows:

“Turning to the taxation it seems to me that notwithstanding the fact that there were three liability orders but one visit was made by one bailiff and the maximum that the Council’s reasonable charges can be is the result of applying the formula contained in Schedule 5 paragraph 2 (1) (b) of the Regulations”

they cannot charge so many fees if only one visit is made

 

 

you need to find out from the council when both parking tickets were passed to the bailiffs and if they are trying to charge you visit fees on the same day for both tickets they cant

if they have levied you car for both tickets they cant do that either

[devilzwishbone]

Ive seen them once

He wrote a statement for both tickets but that was the first visit in which it was just the amounts the council passed to them

 

Since then they claim to have visited on two occasions

the 2nd time they came I got seperate invoice for the newly amounts due

for both tickets

 

The 3rd Time (22nd December) they have sent a new invoice for 1 tickte not the two, but I was at home that day all day and no body came and I am going to ask the concierge to check the CCTV footage now

Edited March 16, 2018 by dx100uk
quote

[devilzwishbone]

I just had them check the CCTV, at the time they said they visited 10:19am on the 22nd December no body came from B&S

 

I even asked them to give 1 hr scope, no body except for a Dudley Council engineer attended the property in which at aprox 10:19 had wedged the door open so for them to write to me and say they had no access to the property to post a leter or even knock the door is a load of tosh

 

The only problem I got is that the CCTV equipment is owned by the council, who is Bristow & Sutors client, so the concirerge said technically the council could refuse to hand over to a solicitor the CCTV Evidence

 

Isnt this obstructing justice / breach of Data Protection Act 1998 (as its recorded visual data)

[sailor sam]

The lines certainly look very dodgy to me. Were there any signs?

 

Hopefully someone else may come in and offer an opinion but I reckon you still need to put up the PCN's.

[lamma]

we need to know the dates - the cases may have 'expired'.

[sailor sam]

I reckon it has Lamma, the first PCN was issued in Nov 08 and the second Feb 09. I said in my first post on this that this may be a problem.

 

However, looking at the OPs pics, there does seem that there could of been an avenue of appeal although we have yet to see any signage pics or indeed the PCNs themselves.

 

The other issue seems to be whether the bailiffs are acting appropiately.

Edited March 16, 2018 by dx100uk
quote

[lamma]

I think its down to any bailiff issues by now. but without all the facts...

[moomatron]

I have paid Bristow and Suter a total of £500 for a parking fine in Tewkesbury. They sent a bailiff to my house whilst I was not at the property and told my mother that they would not leave untill a payment of £500 was made and for every half an hour they sat in the van they would add £25 to the debt. I was working in Canada and although I spoike to them over the phone the bailiff refused to wait untill I returned. My mother had to drive 4 miles into town to get the money from the bank and they added the extra charge for time waiting. These bailiffs are rude and completely ruthless. I have also had the same company harass me over a missunderstanding over my council tax. I had set up a system where my council tax was being paid directly out of my wages and have wage slips to prove this. I had a visit from the bailiff informing me it hadn't been paid which I knew was a mistake and I showed the bailiff my wage slip. She was rude and said she needed to come in and list my items for sale at action. I had contacted the cab for advise over the parking ticket situation previously and they told me to never let a bailiff into your property or sign papaerwork. When I said this to the bailiff she asked "are the cab going to pay your debts for you???no. so you had better let me in". I had my children in the house and said i wasn't going to let her in. She said she would return with a lock smith and the charges would be added. Luckily after contacting the accountant at work he sorted it all out. I have had no apology from Bristow and Sutor and am so angry that they think they are above the law. I wonder if they realise how much stress they cause to people who are struggling to pay their bills. Is there anything I can do??????