I was slapped with £70 parking fine in the wrong language – now I face a £10,000 bill

A DRIVER who was sent a £70 parking fine in the wrong language is now facing a £10,000 legal bill after refusing to pay.

Campaigners claim it would have cost the parking company responsible just £60 to translate the notice.

Toni Schiavone, from Llangrannog, Wales, has been taken to court by One Parking Solution (OPS) over the dispute, which dates back to September 2020.

Mr Schiavone, a passionate advocate for the Welsh language, claims that he did not pay the penalty as the notice was only in English.

He will now come before a judge for the fourth time on May 13 thanks to the long-running clash.

The case was originally thrown out because representatives of OPS failed to attend previous hearings.

However, the company won an appeal in January to reintroduce the case this year.

Mr Schiavone now claims he has received a letter demanding over £10,000 in legal costs should he lose the case.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith, the Welsh Language Society, has urged the judge to follow the precedent of a similar case in Caernarfon, which saw the court rule that English-only notices are insufficient.

The group has also called on the Welsh Government to protect the rights of Welsh speakers in law.

Sian Howys, the organisation's chair, said: "It is disappointing that One Parking Solution has decided to resubmit this case, but the real reason Toni must appear in court yet again is because the rights of people who live in Wales to use the Welsh language are not ensured in statute.

"We have seen other cases of this recently... without any serious response from our Government.

"We call on our members and supporters to be present on May 13 to support Toni, and to demand that the right to use the Welsh language in all aspects of life is respected through legislation."

The Senedd has already considered such a measure, proposed by Paid Cymru MS Heledd Fychan, with the statute being voted down on January 30.

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said: "The Welsh language belongs to all of us, and we want to see all sectors increase their use of Welsh.

"Supporting businesses to develop their Welsh language services is a priority for us, and we are focused on action that has a meaningful and practical effect on promoting the language and ensuring that people can use Welsh in their everyday lives.

"As part of this, we are currently following a programme of work for the introduction of Welsh language standards to more sectors over the coming years."

One Parking Solution has been contacted for comment.