I hate paying for parking. Don't we all!
It's another form of tax for motorists that councils seem to be able to increase willy-nilly without any justification at all.
Double yellow lines and single yellow lines abound to make sure that you have to pay. It's not about traffic flow or road safety - it's about raising money, plain and simple.
But left without any alternative, of course I stump up the charges whenever I have to.
Last week I was in the New Forest for a couple of days with my wife. On Tuesday we drove down to Milford-on-Sea to walk the two miles to Hurst Castle along the shingle spit. We paid £3 for a four-hour stop in Hurst Road East car park at 10:26.
We walked the mile and a bit to Hurst Castle, looked round, had a cup of coffee, then walked back, arriving back at the car at 13:25. Plenty of time to change our shoes and go to the nearby cafe to have lunch.
We arrived back at the car again at around 13:55, still well inside the four hours. Imagine my stupefaction then, when I sat down in the driver's seat and saw a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) stuck to the windscreen! I boiled with anger! How could this be when I had paid £3 for a ticket. It was then that I noticed the ticket that I had paid for lying face down on the dashboard about a foot from where I had placed it more then three hours earlier.
When I placed the ticket on the dashboard after I'd bought it, it blew away in the breeze from the driver's door until I managed to shut the door without it blowing away. It was perfectly placed as we left for our walk. (Notice that the ticket was not one of the stickable variety.)
I can only think that when we changed our shoes - only ever opening the back door - that there was breeze enough to blow the ticket and flip it over. Thus when the traffic warden came by at 13:43 (s)he must have been gleeful in seeing the ticket upside down on the dashboard: "Parked in a car park without clearly displaying a valid pay & display ticket or voucher or parking clock".
The fine was £50, with a reduction to £25 if you pay within 14 days.
Returning home I wrote to the email address to challenge the PCN, explaining what did happen and what I assumed must have happened. I sent them a scan of my valid parking ticket. (Incidentally, there was plenty of space in the car park every time we were back there throughout the day (10:26, 13:25, 13:55) so we could never have been denying another road user a space. It's just about making money.)
I was set fair for an argument and further emails if they denied my challenge.
BUT THEY ACCEPTED IT!
Quite right too, as I had paid for a valid ticket and was a victim of a stray breath of wind.
My faith in human kindness was restored.
