Fury as Taliban ‘using international treaty as loophole to avoid paying more than £125,000 in UK parking tickets’
TALIBAN officials have been accused of using an international treaty as a loophole to avoid paying more than £125,000 in UK parking tickets.
Afghan diplomats are said to have regularly left vehicles on double yellows or without the right permit.
The brutal Taliban government seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021 and this week declared music illegal and burned instruments.
But 3,500 miles away, officials in London have built up more than 1,000 unpaid fines.
Three central London councils — Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham — say they are owed almost £1million in unpaid fines from diplomats overall.
The Afghanistan embassy is among the worst offenders — owing £104,300 alone to Westminster council.
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But diplomats are exempt from prosecution under the Vienna Convention and cannot be taken to court.
It is believed the total fines should be even higher as some wardens do not even bother ticketing motors as they know there is no chance of payment.
The City of London Corporation said it wrote-off £680 worth of tickets owed by the Afghan embassy — as there was no prospect of being paid.
Hugh Bladon, of the Alliance of British Drivers, said: “Why should some embassy staff think they can park where they like for free?
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“It is totally absurd.
“If they refuse to pay maybe we should deduct the cost from their aid budget.”