Parking Tickets in Town Car Parks

[stuscfc1883]

hi guys,

i'm trying to read up on the actual laws about Parking Tickets issued when you park in a town centre multi-storey or something similar.

 

 

My daughter was given a ticket whilst parked in a car park at the back of stockport shopping centre, which I think is council land.

 

 

During the run up to Christmas last year the Council try and sucker us into shopping in Stockport and offer 'FREE' parking days to compete with the local shopping malls like the Trafford Centre which has free parking 24/7 .

 

 

. . on the day my daughter got the ticket it was meant to be a 'free' parking day

but apparently this information was a printing error in the local newspaper!!

 

 

she paid and that was the end of that .

. . however after reading various stories on here i wanted to know if it happens again etc or she/we received a ticket for being wrongfully parked or expiry of the ticket what is our legal position?

[DBC]

I don't think you have much chance. The council can't be held accountable for the mistakes of others, i.e the newspaper.

[stuscfc1883]

oh yes i understand that and my daughter paid the 'fine' begrudgingly .

. . what i'm wanting to find out is if you get a Parking Ticket for either not parking correctly or your ticket had expired etc

do you need to pay the fine . .

. because it's a Council owned car park . .

. whereas if it's a private car park, say Sainsburys or something like that and you get a Parking Ticket for a slighly expired ticket do you have to pay?

[DBC]

Yes, you have to pay council tickets because they are backed by the appropriate legislation.

 

 

This is in contrast to private car parks which rely on civil law.

 

 

This states that only the actual material loss can be claimed by the land-owner.

[Al27]

Councils and the police, along with Railway Companies can issue legitimate fines.

 

Private companies such as NCP or Euro Car Parks can only issue invoices, which in general should be ignored.

[Jamberson]

You have to pay or appeal a council PCN.

 

 

It is worth bearing in mind that a Traffic Order is needed for the council to carry out parking enforcement at a given location.

 

 

This is a legal document which specifies what the parking regs are at that location.

 

 

It is sometimes the case that off-street parking (ie car parks) is not backed up by a Traffic Order but of course it should be, so before you pay I would suggest requesting a copy from the council.

 

 

They may have one, and it may be in order, in which case nothing gained - but they may not - in which case you can successfully challenge it.