Moment jobsworth traffic warden gave man parking ticket while he cleaned his car – because a plastic bag was blocking his permit

A MAN was slapped with a £70 parking fine while he was cleaning his car – because a plastic bag was covering the permit.

Swanye Smith was hit with the penalty while cleaning his car which was parked outside girlfriend Lorenda Simpson's house in Nottingham.

But the 46-year-old was stunned when a traffic warden walked up to his car and started giving him a ticket - because he claims a plastic bag he was using to clear out the vehicle was obscuring his visitor's pass.

Lorenda, 32, rushed out of her house and started filming the dispute after hearing commotion coming from the road through the open door her partner had been constantly walking in and out of.

Mum-of-two Lorenda said: "It's happening to a lot of people who are paying the fines just to get rid of the problem but people need to stand up to them because it's almost like a form of bullying.

"He didn't even talk to Swayne before putting the details in. I thought they were supposed to at least acknowledge the driver instead of issuing a ticket straight away.

"He began to say something to me, 'you need to be careful who' when he just stopped his sentence. I asked him what he was going to finish his sentence with. I can only think he was going to say who you give a visitors' permit to. Is it because he's older? Because he's Jamaican? He's the father of my child!"

Swayne and Lorenda insisted there was a valid visitors' permit in Lewis Close, St Ann's, when the parking warden approached him.

But after a row in which both sides claim to have been abused, a ticket and fine of £70 arrived in the post from the local council which responded saying it is having trouble with misuse of residents' parking permits.

Swayne, who lives in Birmingham, was fined visiting Lorenda and their three year old daughter.

Lorenda also has a thirteen year old son who she told not to come outside and get involved with the dispute.

Lorenda said: "My partner was just hoovering his car and an officer approached him, looked at the car, and started putting in his details. He was in there with the hoover on and he didn't think to ask him.

"He was my visitor so he had every right to be there."

The couple say the permit was in the front window, partially covered by a plastic bag, moved to the windscreen during cleaning.

"When he asked if there was a problem, the warden said he didn't have a permit," added Lorenda, a health care assistant.

"He picked the permit off the dashboard and showed it to him, but the warden said he couldn't see it."

In the frequently asked questions on parking on Nottingham City Council's website, the answer says that wardens should observe a vehicle for five minutes before issuing a ticket.

The couple believe this rule was not followed through by the warden.

Health care assistant Swayne has taken a stand to appeal against the ticket, which could be reduced to £35 if paid within 14 days.

But the city council said it had been having trouble with commuters parking on the outskirts of the city centre and was "actively enforcing misuse and abuse in the resident's permit schemes".

Councillor Nicola Heaton, the council's portfolio holder for community services, said: "The City Council, Community Protection, working with Nottinghamshire Police, is actively enforcing misuse and abuse in the residents’ permit schemes to restrict commuter parking in local neighbourhoods and protect on-street parking spaces for the people who live locally.

"Residents parking schemes prevent the use of defined spaces by anyone who does not have a resident's or a visitor's parking permit displayed appropriately.

"Civil enforcement officers will enforce this by issuing a penalty charge notice or reporting misuse and abuse where appropriate. Once a penalty charge notice has been issued it cannot be rescinded by the issuing officer.

"There is an appeal process for people who believe they should not have to pay a parking penalty charge. In this case the city council has received an appeal which will be considered in due course."

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