With the issue of parking fines on Birkenheads Rock retail park in the news recently, we now have now got the issue of the wirral's Controversial spy car having raised a total of more than £80,000 in revenue from parking fines over the last year according to a new report. As quoted on the front page of the Wirral Globe (Wednesday 14th July 2010).

Do we have to pay these fines? Or are these fines unjust and unlawful (See post on the rock retail park)?

http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/8271018.Spy_car_hits_motorists_for_more_than___80_000/

just wondering like

If no-one was parked ilegally then there would be no `fine` soooo....



~Cars are expensive, if you cannot afford to drive, Don`t! (including YOU, yes all you using your credit cards!)

Simples!

I think it might be interesting to know what % of the &80,000 revenue (Wirral) or nationally overall, is going to the operating company (NCL)?
Here in the USA, a lot of the red-light cameras were thrown out because the companies operating them were making money out of it on a per-ticket basis - and it was determined to be a conflict of interest (the more flashes of the camera, the more profit they made). I think they now have to operate on a flat fee basis, if at all.
Something also iirc about the operating companies themselves issuing "tickets" too (rather than the police or whatever...)
I wonder if the same thing could be a possibility here?

Or it could be that this car gets parked outside a school in a legal parking space thereby preventing a parent from parking in that space to collect their child from school. Easy pickin's is what it looks like to me.

This is exactly what happened to me, I appealed the ticket on the above grounds and I won, the ticket was cancelled. Ive seen this car parked outside schools though were there are no restrictions at all, none whatsoever. Whats the point in that? They arent going to catch anyone parking illegally where there are no restrictions. More likely the driver was deciding to have a lazy lie off somewhere where it looks like he might be working.

What's "illegal" isn't always necessarily wrong...
Loads of places where it used to be perfectly legal to park have had yellow lines painted on them solely to force you to use pay parking. Nothing whatever to do with safety. It's just another form of taxation when you come right down to it.
(FWIW I have no objection whatsoever to parking being made illegal in genuinely unsafe places).

I agree completely where its genuinely unsafe to park.

Yeah, I got done in the industrial estate by B'head Priory. I know artic trucks go by there, but even so, the roads are really wide and yet they've all got double yellows on 'em (for no apparent reason). When I parked the car, there was noone visible for miles, and yet when I looked at the ticket, it was given about 2 mins after I parked my car. Obviously a set up, in more ways than one!

But are the fines issued by cause of the SMART "Spy" car legal - And do we have to pay them ??????

Provided the fine was issued in accordance to the Traffic Management Act 2004 and any erected signage meets The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 the fines are legal and have to be paid.

More: http://www.patrol-uk.info/

Its funny, the parking is not illegal (because it was decriminalised) but the fines are legal.

Depends how you define illegal but generally I would say that an action is illegal if it committing a "criminal offence".

Since it is now decriminalised it is not a "criminal offence" but it can be penalised so it is a "penal offence", sounds like a load of cock to me

......which in most cases they arent because the vehicle will operate in areas without correct signage etc.

My advice to anyone receiving any kind of ticket on Wirral is to get it checked by the guys over at www.pepipoo.com. I have had 5 parking tickets and 1 speeding ticket cancelled so far thanks to their advice.

It can be the simplest of things that gets a ticket cancelled, but if they arent legal they simply arent legal!