Car towed by Council - unclear signage

[Graham117]

Afternoon all,

 

Right, today's problem: My car has been towed from on street parking which I thought was unlimited, but turns out it was '1 hour, no return within 1 hour'. I've been back to have a look and there are two signs, both close to eachother, at one end of a 200+ yard long roadside parking bay. I came from the other direction so never saw the signs and was parked about 20m from them. When I left the car I walked off down a side road and so never passed the two signs. There are no other signs. I have taken photographs but may go back to get some more. So, chums, where do we go from here?

[sailor sam]

Post pics showing the bay and signs so we can see what you are talking about would be a good start.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

Please click my reputation button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Graham117]

Sorry for not posting on this sooner. It appears some rather strange things have happened.

 

I parked my car in Place A. I don't use it often so didn't go back to it for a few weeks. When I did go back there it was gone. After ringing round etc. I found the council had got it, and so I paid to get it back. The PNC with it said it was parked in Place B. Aha, I thought, got them. So I appealed saying it was in Place A, 400m from Place B. When talking to the council, they told me I can see the pictures of the ticket on the car etc. online, which I did. To my suprise, it was in Place B. I never put it there, and I can only guess it was pushed / rolled down the hill from Place A to Place B. I've told the police, got a crime reference number, and appealed to the council again saying I didn't park it in Place B. They've now rejected the appeal, and said they won't take the matter any further unless I can prove I reported the car stolen before it was ticketed or can prove someone else moved it. This is obviously very hard to do, since I didn't report it stolen before I knew it had been (!) which was after it had been ticketed / towed etc. and I can't prove who moved it. If I had pictures of people pushing it down the hill I'd have probably asked them to stop it! I now seem to be in the difficult position where I need to prove a negative i.e. that I parked the car in Place A didn't move it to Place B. Who gets to decide if appeals can be taken to an independent adjudicator? The tone of the council letter seems to suggest this is the end of the matter. Is one allowed to bring County Court claims against the council in this sort of situation?

 

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

Mr. G

[sailor sam]

Yes of course you could take the council to court. But you would need some kind of proof of what your claim would be. Looking it from the DJ's ponit of view; You say that you left your car for a 'few weeks' at place 'A' which is 400m away from where it was towed from (place 'B'). You describe place 'A' as having parking restrictions of 1 hour but despite this you left the car there for a 'few weeks'. Surely if you intended to leave your car for that long, you would of checked for any parking restrictions? Then say that you can only 'guess that the car was either pushed or rolled down the hill to place 'B' which is over a third of a mile? So the following questions will most likely be; was the car broken into and the igntition lock 'breached'? Was any sign of damage noted by the recovery people?

 

What really suprises me is that you managed to get the police interested enough to give you a crime number even though at the time (presumebly) you knew the council had got it!

 

My opinion so far is that your events don't add up. However, if it is the case that your car was 'moved' 400m without your consent and the police have recorded it as such, then obtain a copy of the report and include it in an appeal to the adjudicator stating that as far as you are concerned, the car was stolen and not left at place 'B' when it was PCN'd and subsiquently towed.

 

Please Note

 

 

The advice I offer will be based on the information given by the person needing it. All my advice is based on my experiences and knowledge gained in working in the motor and passenger transport industries in various capacities. Although my advice will always be sincere, it should be used as guidence only.

 

 

I would always urge to seek professional advice for clarification prior to taking any action.

 

 

Please click my reputation 'star' button at the bottom of my profile window on the left if you found my advice useful.

[Graham117]

Thanks for your comments. I freely admit it sounds spurious to say the least, but it is honestly what's happened. I do of course realise a court would find against me on the balance of probabilities. For the record, I got the crime reference number from the police after I'd got the car back from the council but when I found out it had moved / been moved by persons or forces unknown. I'm trying to get any CCTV footage of the road as I'd dearly love to know how it came to be 400m away from where I left it (and facing the other way!).

[Jamberson]

Just to be clear - the car was moved 400m from a parked position (presumably with the doors locked and the handbrake on), and left parked exactly within the bounds of another parking bay, facing the opposite way. No damage, it wasn't broken into, and nothing stolen?

 

What this sounds like to me is a case of the Council relocating the vehicle, which they do routinely if a pre-parked vehicle is blocking access to a parking bay which is needed for some reason. I simply cannot conceive vandals/thieves doing such a thing, and cannot imagine members of the public (even if up to no good) being able or willing to push it to its final resting place. What's the point?

 

If I were you, I would start enquiries with the council as to what public works, bay suspensions etc were carried out at the original parking place while you were away, to try and identify a reason as to why the vehicle might have been relocated. If you can do that, they should also be able to confirm to you if it was the Council who resited the vehicle. If you get that far, you've got a strong case for the charges being returned to you.

[Graham117]

Hello all,

 

A long overdue update on this one:

 

Thank you all to those who believed me, and for those who didn't, I can see why you might have been sceptical but I was telling the truth!

 

It turns out the council did it. One arm of the council moved my car down the road to a "1 hour no return" bay, but didn't think to tell anyone, and then the parking enforcement lot towed it a few days later. Interestingly, the police were only informed about the initial moving of the car about a week after the second towing, and only once I'd started making enquiries at the council.

 

So, I was able to show the council it was they who'd moved it in the first place. Full refund send (after chasing...!).

 

Thanks for all the help on this.

 

 

Mr Graham