Pay and Dismay

Councillor Steve Reed, Leader of Lambeth Labour Group, with just some of the complaints from Lambeth residents

Lambeth’s dire parking service has reached new heights of incompetence by wrongly impounding a car twice and damaging the it. The owner of the vehicle has had to pay £625 to Lambeth Council for parking offences she did not commit and £370 for repairs to her car.

In November 2004, Coldharbour resident Emma Collingbourne had her car impounded whilst on holiday for parking in a “suspended parking bay”. The suspension was not notified and the planned roadworks which caused the suspension were never carried out. Three months later Lambeth’s Lib Dem-Tory controlled council finally agreed to repay her the £425 she had been charged to release her car. She has still not received this money.

But things got worse still for Ms Collingbourne. When her car was removed from the pound, £370 worth of damage was caused to her car. Lambeth Council refused to take responsibility for this and have made her contact the pound directly. She has not had a reply to her enquiry to the car pound for the repayment of this money.

Incredibly the situation got worse still. On the 5th April she found that her car, still with full permit, had been impounded again due to another 'suspended bay’, with no explanation. Ms Collingbourne had to pay £200 for the release of her car.

Since the Lib Dems and Tories signed a parking contract with Control Plus in August 2003 the council has been inundated with complaints about over-zealous ticketing. The contract contains financial incentives to meet arbitrary ticketing targets. Labour Councillors have been campaigning hard to get the unfair financial incentives removed from the contract

Emma Collingbourne said:

““I feel thoroughly victimised by Lambeth council. I have lived in Brixton for over two years and always fully paid my resident’s parking fare and my council tax. These money making scams of the parking contractors are clearly fully endorsed by Lambeth council, which is absolutely appalling.”

Councillor Steve Reed, Leader of Lambeth Labour Group said:

“The Lib Dems and Tories are responsible for this mess. It’s their contract and their financial incentives which mean that people like Emma Collingbourne have to suffer. I’m amazed at what she has been put through.”

Have you been a victim of over-zealous ticketing? Let us know about you experiences in our on-line Parking Forum by clicking here, or complete the form below.