Parking fine madness? Recovery truck slapped with parking fine

The truck, from Holmfield MOT and Repairs, Holmfield, was slapped with the fine on March 6 for not being “parked correctly within the markings of the bay or space” in the Charlestown Road Retail Park in Halifax.

Business owner Jason Bowerbank says the truck was recovering a broken down vehicle at the time and has called for common sense to prevail.

He said: “The truck would not fit in the parking bay, come hell or high water, and someone has sat there and taken the picture.

“Someone needs to have a bit of common sense here. We rang up to explain and were told to go through the appeals process, so I had to mess around writing a letter.”

The fine, issued by Preston-based ES Parking LTD (ESPEL), requires £100 to be paid, or £60 if payment is received within two weeks of the notice being issued.

Mr Bowerbank, 39, who has run the 24/7 breakdown service for eight years, is adamant the fine has being wrongly issued, slamming it as a ”joke”.

“It’s really annoying, aggro and absolutely ridiculous. I will not be paying it, I’ll take it as far as sitting in front of a court,” he said.

“It was a recovery truck, in a parking bay, while recovering a vehicle. It’s just a joke.”

In response to Mr Bowerbank’s concerns, a spokesperson for ESPEL said: “The truck was parked across multiple bays, with no flashing lights on, which it should have done.

“I know the observer never saw a broken down car. We do use common sense and we would waive it if that was the case.

“A breakdown truck should have flashing lights on.”

According to its website, ESPEL can “tailor our systems to your needs” offering “a fully bespoke package, allowing you to enforce any Terms and Conditions”.

Have you experienced parking fine madness? Email [email protected]