Voluntary worker fined £400 and almost loses car in council battle after her £1 parking ticket blew over in wind
Paula Woolven celebrating tribunal win in ugly dispute with East Sussex authority
A VOLUNTARY worker was hit with a £400 fine and almost had her car taken off her after her £1 parking ticket blew over in the wind.
Paula Woolven, 44, endured a staggering 14-month legal battle with her local council after she was given a fine for not having a ticket.
She was left shocked when she returned to her Vauxhall Zafira after helping a group of disabled children put on a pantomime in a community theatre nearby to find the £50 penalty charge notice.
Despite telling East Sussex County Council her ticket had flipped over in the wind, and providing evidence she had bought a ticket, officers refused to accept it.
Paula said: "I did buy a ticket but for whatever reason they decided to make an example of me.
"For a £1 ticket, I estimate it's probably cost them £1,000 in admin time, what they call 'officer time' and repaid charges – and the most the tribunal could have forced me to pay was £50.
"They refused to consider the mitigating circumstances. I can only estimate how much money they've blown on this.
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"It is so ridiculous, it almost feels like a Monty Python sketch. It's crazy that this is all over £1 parking ticket.”
After appealing the council's fine, and its decision to refuse her original appeal, Paula was then taken to county court for the civil matter.
The case went ahead in her absence.
As a result of that hearing, a court judgement was made and bailiffs were sent to her home, in Telscombe Cliffs, in East Sussex, and ordered to remove her £11,000 Vauxhall Zafira or to take a payment of £400 on the spot.
After paying the £400 fine, Paul contacted her MP Simon Kirby (Conservative) for help and the court ruling against her was later quashed.
She was repaid the £400 bailiff's' fee - only for the council to then start the case against her again, demanding she pay the original £50 fine.
East Sussex County Council has spent the last 14 months chasing Paula, who has made six appeals - four to the council, one to the court, and the last one to the independent parking tribunal.
Finally, she took the case to the independent parking tribunal and won.
The independent adjudicator said: "I am not satisfied the council properly considered the representations made by Mrs Woolven.
"Failure to do so is a procedural impropriety on the part of the council."
The council is now understood to be considering appealing the adjudicator's decision, which could eventually see the case taken to the High Court.
Paula added: "To send round the bailiffs to take an £11,000 car for a £1 parking ticket is beyond common sense.
"I just dread to think how much money they wasted in administration time when the most they could have gained was a £50 fine.
"It felt really quite personal to be honest. To be chasing a £1 parking ticket - which I did pay for - for 14 months is crazy.
"It has been stressful. Getting a court judgement was quite embarrassing to be honest and even though it has been quashed it could affect my credit score.
"I'm just glad it's over, I hope common sense will finally prevail and the council will stop."
Paula parked at the Saxon Lane car park in Seaford, East Sussex, on December 9, 2015.
Paula has now glued a clothes peg to her dashboard and attaches her parking tickets to it.
Anyone who receives a parking fine can appeal to the council that issued it. If their appeal is not successful they can appeal to the local authority again then take it further to Traffic Penalty Tribunal.
Caroline Sheppard, chief adjudicator of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, has repeatedly urged councils to show more common sense over enforcing minor infringements - such as improperly displaying tickets.
She said: "I'd very much like to see a place where common sense applies and appeals are resolved without going to court."
The latest figures from 2014/15 show the appeals service heard 19,624 cases and 65 per cent of motorists were successful in getting their tickets overturned.
MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, East Sussex, Mr Kirby said: "While it's important that we all park responsibly, it's also up to our councils to act in a fair and proportionate way. Clearly this hasn't been the case this time."
A spokesperson for the council said: "Our traffic regulation orders are very clear that it's the driver's responsibility to ensure the ticket is displayed continuously while the vehicle is parked.
"Previous cases have been heard by the adjudicator and dismissed due to the pay and display ticket not being displayed.
"We have asked the adjudication service for clarification on this after the result of Mrs Woolven's appeal."
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