A cash-strapped council could be swamped under an avalanche of appeals after a parking ticket “flaw” was exposed.
It is the latest setback to hit the cash-strapped Angus Council since the introduction of parking charges, which one councillor has described as “frankly catastrophic”.
The fresh twist comes against a backdrop of continued criticism and protest about how the coalition administration has handled the parking charges since they returned.
Angus Council assumed the role of parking enforcement in 2017 and since then, more than 18,000 tickets have been issued, bringing £474,000 into authority coffers.
However, an appeal by a Forfar resident who was given a ticket, triggered a hearing which adjudicators say exposes a flaw in the system.
The driver appealed to government watchdog, the Parking and Bus Lane Tribunal for Scotland.
The adjudicator, having pointed to photographic evidence and noting the ticket had been “correctly issued and served” dismissed the appeal on those grounds.
However, the law states a parking ticket must contain an address to which payment of the fine can be sent.
While the council’s ticket contains a website address and phone number, the postal address refers only to appeals.
The adjudicator found: “If the Council makes a decision to only provide a web address or telephone number it clearly creates problems for drivers who are unable to operate an online payment or cashless telephone payment.
“The Council may well consider that providing a web address or telephone number is more convenient for many road users and more convenient for them.
“However, it is not what the legislation requires and creates problems for drivers who do not use cashless payments or do not have access to a computer.
“The legislation has not been amended to include a provision for a web address or telephone payment only and still requires a postal address to which payment can be sent.
“On this technical issue I find the PCN is thus not valid.
“I allow the appeal and direct the Council to cancel the Penalty Charge Notice and the Notice to owner.”
Carnoustie and District Independent Councillor Brian Boyd said: “This administration’s handling of any parking-related issue has been frankly catastrophic – they have stumbled from one parking blunder to another and quite frankly, it is our town centres that are paying the price for it.
“If the parking ticket system is flawed, then potentially we are looking at a bill totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds and that doesn’t include the staffing costs of administering refunds.
“This simply could not have come at a worse time.”
A spokesperson for the local authority said: “Angus Council is clear that the adjudicator found for the council on the grounds on which this case was appealed.
“However, the adjudicator then expressed a view that the PCN was invalid due to a technicality.
“We do not agree with that view and are currently reviewing our position.”
