Gwynedd gets tough on Parking tickets.
Helen Pritchard of Rhos Isaf "charged" £671 for parking in town.
Helen Pritchard woke up on a cold morning in March to find Bailiff's at her door demanding £671.00 immediately otherwise they would tow her clamped cars away to recover the money. The Bailiff's from Excel were hired by Gwynedd Council to recover a parking ticket allegedly issued in Caernarfon some time earlier. Helen, a local business woman told us that it was "the first she had heard of the incident" and had she known that a ticket had been issued she'd have gladly paid up the £60 fine.
On the day, Helen was told that unless immediate payment was made either by cash or credit card, then they would have no option but to proceed and call the removal tow truck to take the vehicles away. Helen explained to them that this was the first time she had been told and called the police. She was advised by the officer that it was a civil matter and would have to seek legal advice. Helen told us "It was around 8am and my solicitors office did not open until 9am. I had no option but to pay up otherwise I would be without my car and my son would also lose his."
Helen told us:
"I have been in correspondence with the council who told me that they sent letters to my address but I have not received any. On top of that I am told that the letters were sent to the wrong address so I think it totally unreasonable for them to charge me all this when there has been an error with the address.
I would like to ask the readers of CaernarfonOnline that if anyone else has suffered similar problems could they contact me on helenwp@hotmail.co.uk . I am sure I am not the only one who feels they have been treated with appallingly".
" I have been in correspondence with officers of Gwynedd council for quite some time and they have taken a long time to respond to my question. I have contacted My AM Alun Ffred Jones who finally managed to receive a response from them. The council told me that I would have to fight the bailiff fees through the courts as it was now out of their hands. Fines like this will cripple businesses in Caernarfon. People will think twice before shopping in our town and all because the council have gone heavy handed on drivers. If I have done wrong then I hold my hands up and if the council would have contacted me through what they call the correct channels then I'd have paid the fine straight away, but all this defies common sense."
The alleged offence took place at Tan y Bont Car Park in Caernarfon
Here are the original copies of the E-mail's sent to Gwynedd Council, beginning with one tothe leader Richard Parry Hughes:
(We cannot include the replies in their original form because of copyright law.)
Sent: Thu 20/03/2008 13:37
WITHOUT PREJUDICE
Dear Richard Parry Hughes
On the 10th March a company called Excel Parking Services posted a Notice of Distress Warrant through my letter box . They gave me one day’s notice to contact them (by letter or phone) – I sent them a letter immediately to enquire as to what this Notice was about. The next morning (11th) they came round about 08.00 and clamped the two cars belonging to my son and myself. When I telephoned them to say I had written to them asking for an explanation their spokesperson said that the post hadn’t arrived as yet and if I didn’t pay £671 within the hour then both cars would be towed away and sold at auction. He said he was sitting in Gwalia Garage ready to give the order. I asked if I could speak to someone in authority and he told me he was the highest authority available.
I telephoned 999 and they said it was a civil matter and I should get legal advice but since it was before 09.00 it was impossible for me to get such advice. I therefore had no choice but to pay as we needed the cars and the costs would have escalated if they had towed them away. Since then I have done research on the company and I have found all kinds of adverse information about them on the Internet and there have been programmes (including BBC Watchdog) discussing this company.
After paying I asked them for their warrants of execution which they brought round later in the day. It was for two parking offences in car parks run by Gwynedd Council. When I rang Gwynedd Council they said that if a parking ticket does not get paid then they pass them on to this company. I haven’t taken legal advice as yet because I presume if they were hired by the Council then they would have been legitimate although very immoral in their ways of handling things.
This is an absolute crazy situation and is going to be so bad for an already floundering trade in Caernarfon if word gets out. I have obviously told all my friends, work colleagues and family about this and they have all been absolutely horrified. I even spoke to someone I know that works for another Council in the Highways section and he sent me a link to a BBC Watchdog programme that had investigated this company.
I am writing to you, as the Chairman of the Council, in the first instance, to see if you can help me get my very hard earned money back from the Council. There is no way I can afford this but, at the time, I had no choice but to pay. They refused installments, cheque – it had to be cash or debit card!!
If you cannot help me and the Council will not reimburse me then please let me know as soon as possible. At present I do not want this made public but if I get no joy then I will then consider my next move, which will most probably be write to my MP, the Welsh Assembly, email all Sunday Newspapers, all regional newspapers in the whole of the UK and television programmes such as Watchdog and The Ferret advising them of what happened to me. As you can see I have already copied this to Caernarfon Online but have asked them to hold fire until I instruct them otherwise. I will also probably post a notice in every surrounding village pubs, post offices and shops, and will be putting flyers through people’s doors – in Welsh and English. Flyers will also be handed out to all shops in Caernarfon itself. I will keep doing this periodically until I get some satisfaction. If the council have proof that I illegally parked somewhere then I will pay my fine but not this ridiculous amount – I must admit I don’t recall getting a parking ticket from anywhere. Even if I had there is absolutely no justification to having to pay this amount!
Yours sincerely
H.Pritchard
Sent: Wed 02/04/2008 17:42
Dear Bethan Rowlands
Re: Parking
tickets at Tan y Bont, Caernarfon and Sgwar Cyffin, Bangor
for P596 HCC and R685 RNL
Helen Pritchard and
Robert Pritchard
I sent and email to the Parking Unit at Gwynedd Council a couple of days ago
requesting photographic evidence of the alleged parking offences as
above. I received a reply today from Ellen Robinson telling me that I had
to contact the Welsh Penalty Processing Partnership for this as Gwynedd Council
did not hold such evidence. You were copied in to her reply to me.
I telephoned the WPPP this afternoon and was told by Myfyr Ap Thomas that all
correspondence regarding these tickets were sent to the wrong village. I
live in Rhos Isaf and correspondence has been sent to Rhostryfan.
If you are familiar with the area you will know that they are two completely
different villages and some two/three miles apart.
When Excel delivered the notices to my proper address on the 10th March I sent
them a letter straight away (copy attached) to try and ascertain as to the
nature of these notices. The very next morning (before 09.00) both
cars were clamped outside my house. Another note was put through the
letter box with a mobile number on it which I telephoned straight away to tell
them that I had written. Dave Carter (the man that answered the phone)
said that the post had not arrived as yet and if I did not pay £672 within the
next hour then both cars would be towed away and sold at auction to pay these
alleged fines. When I asked to speak to someone in authority then he said
that he was the highest authority and he was sitting in Gwalia Garage waiting
to give them instructions to come and get the cars.
I telephoned 999 and they told me it was a civil matter and I had to get legal
advice. It was before 09.00 and there was nowhere open for me to get such
advice so I had no choice but to pay because Dave Carter said that if the cars
were towed away then I would have to pay £150 each for them to do so and then
pay each day thereafter until cars were sold.
This has been a complete nightmare as there is no way I can afford such a
payment. If I parked illegally then I don't mind paying a fine of £30 -
£40 but this is such a ridiculous amount.
I have also been in correspondence with Richard Parry Hughes, the Chairman of
Gwynedd Council regarding this matter.
I have benn told its out of his hands and it is only Gwynedd Council
that can reimburse me. I shall wait to hear from you before taking
any further action.
Thank you
Helen Pritchard
Fri 11/04/2008 12:46
Dear Bethan Rowlands
I would be grateful if you could reply to my emails in English as, even though I speak fluent Welsh, I am not very good at writing or reading the language and have to ask friends/family to translate unfamiliar words for me.
It is now over a week since I wrote to you last - a copy of which is attached again. You wrote to me on the 7th April to say that you had passed the matter on to your managers. Up to date they haven’t made contact with me. As far as I am concerned this matter is now urgent as it is making me very stressed and unwell. My business is now suffering as I cannot concentrate on anything, I don’t sleep at night as the whole case has frightened me so much - the whole incident has left me feeling very vulnerable. I am taking a herbal calmative to try and alleviate the strain but the constant anxiety is making me really poorly. I am a single mother living in a rural part of North Wales and to be visited by two henchmen demanding so much money is enough to frighten anyone. It is one month since I had to part with the £672 that I could not afford and by now I am being charged interest by my bank. As I told you in my previous email I have never received any postal correspondence prior to this visit – apparently all letters have been sent to the village of Rhostryfan.
I am also attaching my original letter to Richard Parry Hughes dated 20th March. I would appreciate an early reply so I can assess the whole situation and decide what my next move will be. If no-one from The Highways Department of Gwynedd Council has replied constructively to me by Tuesday of next week (15th April) then I shall presume that the Council are not interested in my case.
Yours truly
Helen Pritchard
Further emails were sent including ones to AM Alun Ffred Jones who contacted the council on Helen's behalf and Helen would like to give her thanks for his help in getting a response.
Caernarfon Online contacted Gwynedd Council on Helen's behalf and received this statement.
A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said:
“Anyone who believes they have unfairly issued with a Penalty Charge Notices can write to the Council to explain why they think this is the case. If the Council believes the ticket was issued for valid reasons, but the vehicle owner is unhappy with the decision, they then have the right to appeal to an independent adjudication body (National Parking Adjudication Service).
“If however an individual who receives a parking ticket does not acknowledge receipt of the ticket and does not respond to formal correspondence warning them of the implications of not responding, the Council must, after a reasonable period of time has elapsed, take further measures to recover the outstanding parking charge by the use of a bailiff. This step is only taken as an absolute last resort once all reasonable attempts to contact the vehicle owner have been exhausted.
“Both the cases in question have been thoroughly investigated, and we can confirm that all correspondence was sent to the address and post code both vehicle owners had registered with the DVLA. It is the responsibility of every vehicle owner to ensure that their correct postal address is registered with the DVLA and failure to do so is an offence. We would also note that the postal address held by the Council and the DVLA is identical to the postal address registered for both individuals on the Post Office website