Official: Motorists are being unfairly treated

Parking bosses who took £250million in fines last year have been rebuked for dishing out rough justice to motorists.

Chief parking adjudicator Martin Wood, in charge of monitoring parking attendants in London, has uncovered a catalogue of unfair treatment of drivers. He called on borough authorities to review training of key staff to ensure fairness to motorists and warned he would award compensation against councils found guilty of mishandling disputes over parking or bus-lane fines.

His report - days after the Standard revealed that the boroughs issued a record 5.9 million fines in 2003/04 - shows a series of cases where council officials acted outside the law, including:

Mr Wood said: "Every case where the local authority does not follow the correct procedures or wrongly applies the law has the potential for causing injustice to the motorist.

"We recommended last year that local authorities should review the adequacy of the training their staff receive in considering and replying to representations. It appears there is still work to be done."

He said councils that acted outside the law were in a tiny minority, and that fewer than one per cent of all fines reached the appeal stage, with only half of those concerning legal shortfalls. He said: "On the other hand, we do not know how many motorists do not challenge, or give up challenging liability."

Barrie Segal of web-based service AppealNow.com, which contests unfair tickets on behalf of motorists, described some councils' antics as an "absolute scandal". He added: "The report highlights council behaviour ranging from the illegal to the wicked.

"Because they now earn so much from parking tickets, some councils operate like bandits, extorting money, misleading motorists and turning a blind eye to the continuing issue of false and illegal tickets."