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Michelle Traverse with three-year-old daughter Tianna |
Parking: time to say sorry
Council promise ‘training’ to stop wardens wrongly issuing tickets
COUNCIL parking chiefs apologised to a mother of two yesterday (Wednesday) after she fell victim to an alleged scam outside her daughter’s West Hampstead nursery.
Michelle Traverse was issued with a ticket as she took her three-year-old daughter into Teddies nursery before 8am last Thursday.
The 42-year-old legal secretary, of Fleet Road, Hampstead, thought her watch must be running slow as parking restrictions in West End Lane are in operation between 8am and 6.30pm.
But when she opened the handwritten penalty charge notice (PCN), Ms Traverse realised it was not her watch that was out of time, as the warden had recorded 8.35am on it as the time of issue.
She said: “It is outrageous and I cannot begin to tell you how angry it has made me. The traffic warden has blatantly issued a PCN knowing full well that it shouldn’t have been issued and I think he should be sacked.
“I wonder how many other people he has done this to.”
Nicola Reilly, area manager of nursery chain Bright Horizons which runs Teddies, said that she too had been issued with an incorrectly timed ticket in West End Lane.
Luckily she noticed the given time – half an hour later than the actual time – as the ticket was being written and drove away before it was issued.
She said the road is a hot-spot for wardens following Camden’s decision to reduce the number annual short-stay permits for parents, forcing them to park on the single yellow line.
“This year we’ve been given eight permits, last year we had 12 and two years ago 16,” she said. “It’s a real problem as we have 64 children. The wardens know the nursery is here and that there is no pay and display parking for parents. They literally stand around and wait for parents to come.”
Parents have now started a petition in a bid to force Camden to review the situation.
A Camden Council spokeswoman said: “An error was made on this occasion with a ticket wrongly being issued before the time the restrictions began. The matter has been noted – we have apologised to the motorist and will ensure that further training is given to prevent it happening again.”
She added: “Camden has reduced the number permits for parents as part of its policy to reduce school-run traffic and encourage families to use other, environmentally friendly means of transport such as the bus, tube or train.
“There is an overground station within a short walk of the nursery.” |
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