Parking supremo: Marlow bays "entirely legitimate" (From Bucks Free Press)

Parking supremo: Marlow bays "entirely legitimate"

3:24pm Thursday 9th July 2009

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PARKING penalties issued in Marlow “are entirely legitimate” Buckinghamshire's parking supremo believes, despite claims by a former highways officer that certain bays are not legally enforceable.

John Charlton, Buckinghamshire County Council's parking manager, said inspections will be carried out on parking restrictions in the town centre following claims by Brian Hopper, 65, from Bisham who used to work for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

The possible faults identified by Mr Hooper, which include dashed lines which mark the edge of spaces being too long or too short, could lead to tickets being thrown out on appeal.

He believes many bays have not been marked out to the precise regulations set out by the Department of Transport (DfT).

BCC is in charge of marking out spaces as the road authority, while Wycombe District Council is in charge of handing out tickets to motorists who have broken the rules.

John Charlton, Buckinghamshire County Council's Parking Manager, said: "We will be carrying out a visual inspection of the bays which have been brought to our attention to ensure they are clearly marked and signed.

"This is likely to happen over the next week.

"We remain confident that penalties issued in these bays are entirely legitimate and enforceable.

“However if drivers feel they have been treated unfairly they always have the option to appeal to the independent adjudicator."

Mr Hopper also queried bays with a solid line at one end and the spacing of signs informing drivers of parking regulations.

However Mark Averill, network operations manager at Transport for Buckinghamshire, said the “DfT guidances refers to an approximate spacing only”.

There have been more frequent patrols by parking officers in Marlow High Street and those surroundingit since WDC took over responsibility for enforcing regulations from the police in October.

WDC has cancelled 1,017 tickets out of 12,960 penalty charge notices given drivers on roads and its car parks across the district between October 1 2008 and April 30 2009.

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