Drivers fined £70 after council paint yellow lines under cars
2 December 2021, 17:02 | Updated: 5 October 2022, 12:05
A contractor allegedly lifted the cars before painting the lines on the road, just before the cars were fined for parking on double yellows.
Listen to this article
A number of drivers are furious with the council after double yellow lines were allegedly painted underneath their cars.
The motorists, from Wokingham in Berkshire, claim that a contractor lifted the cars with a crane to paint the lines, and then returned them to the same place, making it look like they had parked illegally.
This was before the drivers of the cars were slapped with a £70 fine for parking on double yellows.
One of the residents in the area, Moeen Ulhaq, said he is ready to fight the fine and is appealing it after his family claim they saw the contractor picking up the cars and painting the lines.
- Mum accidentally lists baby son for sale saying she 'needs it gone today'
- Primary school tells children to wear extra layers to save money on heating
- Police stop motorist for driving with snow-covered windscreen
The eye-witnesses said they also saw the contractors return the cars before the penalties were issued.
Moeen, 19, said: "I parked there last night and there were no signs warning they would be painting lines.
"I woke up about 10.30am and my mum told me they were moving the cars and painting lines.
"They didn't make much noise, I couldn't hear them doing it."
He went on: "One by one, they were lifting each car and putting them back down. I got there and my ticket had been issued at 11.20am."
Councillor Shirley Boyt from Bulmershe and Whitegates said that residents in the area were not given any notice that the road works were going to happen, and admitted that the yellow lines were newly painted.
She added that she was told cones would be placed in the area where the lines were to be painted, however, this did not happen.
The councillor explained: "I offered to place letters on each car parked there. But the council said that would not be necessary as there would be cones."
The council have since issued a statement regarding the shambles, writing: “We are sorry for this situation. This incident was caused by an unfortunate coincidence that our parking enforcement contractors happened to be in the area shortly after the double yellow lines had been painted.
"We have different contractors for painting the lines and for parking enforcement.
“For those people who received a parking fine and have not already challenged it, please contact us and we will work with you to cancel it. We entirely accept they have been issued in error.
“We are sorry this happened and want to apologise to everyone who has been affected.
“Residents in Blackthorn Close had requested the double yellow lines and our contractors have been out previously to paint them but had been unable to because of parked cars.
"Cones were meant to be put out in advance to prevent cars parking on the area to be painted. We have been informed by our contractor today that on this occasion, they did not put the cones out.
“We will be taking this up with our contractor and reviewing our internal processes to ensure this does not happen again.
“We are very sorry that parking fines have been issued in this case.”
- Drivers face £40 fine for using their engine to defrost car windscreens
- Drivers risk £5,000 fine for wearing Christmas jumpers, boots and winter coats
- Why you should never let your child wear a winter coat in the car