I'd say 14 previous tickets was enough of a warning don't you think?
PP
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After 14 tickets didn't get the message across, what do you expect them to do?
Suggest you pay up, and perhaps get an alarm clock?
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Just to jump on the bandwagon,
You illegally parked at least 14 times, were warned in the form of 14 tickets which are currently unpaid, they obviously have been aware of non payment, towed you car to probably recover costs or at least show they mean business and you want to know if it's legal?
Don't want to sound too pompous but the very fact you broke the law 14 times kind of negates the rest of your post.
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Adam
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I`m not after moral and ethic comments thank you, I know that what I did is illegal already (even though the 1 hour stay policy in a residential area is a nonsense).
I want to know about the legality of towing a car with a lot of unpaid fines attached to it. Does the council have the authority to do this>
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How do you know it was towed away, and not nicked? Have you received some kind of a notice? If you have, then it will no doubt quote chapter and verse on the law.
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I just called the council, who confirmed they have towed it away.
The woman on the phone said I have to pay about 130 squids to release it...which makes me think it wasn`t towed away for the 14 fines, but because of today`s illegal parking! Surely thats a drastic measure for 2 extra hours in a residential area in white boxes?
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I wasn't trying to be moral or ethical. And I can see how only being allowed to park for one hour outside your own house is annoying. You asked about the legality of towing a car with unpaid tickets on and whilst I don't know the law exactly, I'm simply saying that what do you want them to do? You didn't pay, they towed the car.
I would expect that it is legal for them to do it as the next step up from tickets.
Sorry.
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Adam
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"Does the council have the authority to do this?"
Er yes I believe they do. You haven't helped the situation by not paying some 14 fines or so.
They probably prioritised your car because of the difficulty in getting the fines paid up, coupled with the lack of any other means of enforcement, due to your car being on foreign plates.
I'm afraid your plight will receive little sympathy here because we all know that so many drivers of foreign plated cars think they can flout UK law enforcement when it comes to the use of public roads.
Just think yourself lucky you weren't arrested under the General Powers of Arrest due to those unpaid fines. You may still be if you don't pay them immediately.
Your view about the parking restrictions is most likely held by many though. For that you do have my sympathy.
I would just pay up and put it down to experience. Heaven knows there are people in SE Aisa at the moment who would wish your problem was the only problem they had.
Hugo
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Taking into account the 14 previous, that comes out at £8.66 per ticket. It's a good deal -- take it and head for the ferry.
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Do not think that I believe that I am allowed to do anything on the road just because I am on foreign plates.
The only "illegal" thing I do is park my car outside my house, and since I consider the 1-hour stay a rip off, I do not want to pay the fines, it's a matter of principle.
I am not looking for sympathy, just for infos on the extent of council's authority concerning towing cars away.
Why did my car get towed away, and not the one next to it?
If mine was towed away because of the 14 fines indeed, why am I not asked to pay them?
Forgetting the 14 fines issue, can the council tow away a car thats been parked inside a white box for 2 hours more than the 1 hour limit?
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What do the notices say ?
i.e. max stay 1 hour, no return 2 hours, cars subject to towing ?
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Mon-Sat, from 8am-6pm,
Max stay 1 hour, no return within 1 hour.
Towing is not mentioned at all.
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Some years back, my car was towed twice in the same week from a residential street. Once it was deemed to be causing an obstruction (it was well parked on the outside of a gentle bend, which had no parking restrictions) and once the front wheels were on the edge of a No Parking box.
I would say if you have contravened a posted restriction (which you admit to) then of course they have a right to tow it away. I don't think the 14 unpaid fines come into it.
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Frankly I agree with ithers who think you're pushing it here. It's the same issue as speeding, there may well be unreasonable restrictions but you need to campaign to change them, ignoring them on a matter of principle will get you nowhere.
May be some help at www.parking-appeals.gov.uk. As well as a walkthrough of the appeals process you can download the Parking Adjudicators annual report which contains a digest of test cases and some commentary and and statistics on parking enforcement. Nottingham seem to be one of the few Councils to use towing powers outside London.
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Let us just suppose that you had sold your car to a new owner over Xmas. The local authority would presumably not have the right to seize the car if it now actually belonged to the new owner and as they were not able to access ownership records in the foreign country they would be on very thin ice.
Does the car attract the fines or is it the registered owner at the time of actual offence.
However you need to carefully look at the maximum time you are allowed to keep the car in this country without either reregistering it or taking it abroad again (if only for a day trip?). You need to make sure that you are absolutely watertight on all other fronts if you decide to start disputing it.
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pmh (was peter)
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try asking at www.parkingticket.co.uk/
you could always pay up, get your car back, and immediately issue a small claims summons against the council, let them prove in a small claims court they are right
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And, as Hugo has warned, perhaps arrest you on the way out for the unpaid 14. In your position, I'd just turn up my coat collar and slip away as quietly as possible. You're in no position to start a fight with authority.
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while i do have numerous problems with foreign registered cars, and uk cars with foreign licenced drivers routinely being let off with all sorts of motoring offences many much more serious than this
i also have problems with councils imposing sill parking restrictions on residential streets without allowing residents parking passes
same has happened in some other cities i know in the sense that council arbitarily decides it wants to stop parking or even pedestrianise a street, gets ridiculous, even as far as what do you do when you need to move house - carry stuff half a mile to the nearest place you can park a van
its again driven by the anti-car agenda so popular and fashionable in our council halls
same as planning rules for new housing, which often impose way too little parking space for the dwellings being built
they imagine they can force the public away from cars, well sadly the public needs to work and travel there in a car, and they like cars
however in this case i would be fighting using all legitimate deocratic means to get the parking restriction changed and paying my fines
interestingly my brother was given a ticket a year or two ago for parking outside his own his by a copper, in a simialar parking restriction, we both thought what a stupid waste of police resources, he never paid and has never been chased, although the number of unpaid fines in this country is at massive levels
am i rambling here?
ha ha
oh just pay up
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Removal and Disposal of Vehicles Regs, 1986 gives the power to Police/LA to remove any vehicle which is left in breach of local Traffic Regulation Order. In addition to any outstanding fine they can charge a relase fee (just over 100 pounds IIRC).
If LA have made a Parking Order for the area then this will remove to County Court to chase non payment of tickets. Call in the Bailiffs etc.
Vehicle "parked ouside my home (in UK?) on foreign plates" eeermmmm rrreeeeally????.
DVD
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nothin wrong with having multiple addresses, one in UK and another abroad, or more, lots of people have no idea where theyll end up spending most of the year as they just end up where the work is, and nothing wrong with having foreign licence/car if you primarily live abroad, parked outside an address u have in uk is perfectly reasonable
however if youre in this situation youll find it makes much more sense to drive on a foreign licence in the UK, u may as well have diplomatic immunity for driving offences
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You may not have wanted moral judgemants Kvido, but you should have expected them.
Remember most posters on here have come to the site via the Telegraph and to them your actions and attitude are a perfect example of what has gone wrong with society over the last 30 years.
Not me mind - I say good luck to you - why not try your hand at benifit fraud or identity theft as well, the extra money should come in handy to pay off all those fines.
All the very best to you - and I mean that most sincerely folks.
CF
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