St Albans District Council forced to refund penalties following blunder (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

St Albans District Council forced to refund penalties following blunder

12:40pm Tuesday 27th October 2009

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DRIVERS given parking tickets by St Albans District Council could be entitled to a refund following a massive admin blunder.

The authority came under fire this week after a Traffic Penalty Tribunal investigating one man's £50 fine deemed all enforcements since March 30, 2008 invalid.

It was on this day that the district council's Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) - which is updated every year - came into force, however, the legal wording was not amended in line with new details in the Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA).

Neil Herron the founder of national organisation Parking Appeals, which helps drivers overturn parking tickets, revealed all to the Review, exposing the severity of the district council's mistake.

Documents revealed to the Review disclose the adjudicator's decision which states: “Many of the provisions of the TRO were out of date and flawed rendering it substantially ineffective almost from the moment it came into operation.”

District council chief executive Daniel Goodwin has received a letter from Mr Herron informing him of the appeal decision and also of the stark reality that the council must suspend all enforcement of its off-street car parks covered by this invalid order. Meanwhile all pay and display machines must be covered up.

Mr Herron said: “As many across the country continue to suffer from aggressive stealth parking enforcement by many local authorities Christmas has come early for the city's motorists.”

A number of questions will remain unanswered until the district council reveals how many penalties have been issued since March 2008.

District council spokeswoman Davina Mansell said it would not be able to immediately comment on the story as Mr Goodwin is currently away.

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