Latest news with #parkingfines
BBC News
8 hours ago
- Automotive
- BBC News
Stapleford car park makes changes after criticism over fines
A Nottinghamshire car park criticised for issuing "heavy-handed" fines has made changes to its payment system in an effort to build goodwill with motorists. The privately-owned car park in Broad Oak Drive, Stapleford, is operated by the parking company previously charged for parking via a pre-paid permit system, which was criticised after one driver was fined after he stopped there to vomit and another drove onto it without parking to drop off his sister. UKPS has now introduced a 'pay and stay' payment system, which works like pay and display, but uses an online payment system instead of issuing tickets from a machine. A spokesperson for UKPS said: "We believe this adjustment restores access, rebuilds goodwill, and offers greater flexibility for everyone who needs to park in the area." Motorist Dave Knight previously told the BBC he had been fined £100 for stopping in the car park to be sick after stomach surgery, which gave him acid reflux. Another driver, Martin Leighton, started flagging down cars on their way into the car park and posted videos on social media to warn other drivers after he was fined for driving onto the car park for 70 seconds to drop off his sister and perform a motorists said they were unaware that only drivers with a permit were allowed to use the car park and claimed the signs warning motorists broke the rules as they were not "visible from a distance". UKPS denied their allegation, but said it has now decided to introduce a pay and stay system instead after it listed listened to feedback from the local Leighton said he welcomed the decision. "I think they've obviously listened to what people have been angry about... they've done something about it which I can respect them for," he said."The prices are not that extreme either really, they're quite reasonable and they fit in with every other car park pretty much that I know."However, Mr Leighton said the operator would have to stop issuing charges to those who enter the land accidentally to start rebuilding also said he was concerned that the pay-and-stay option required the use of the internet and a mobile phone, which could limit the accessibility for older said it remained "committed to being responsive, transparent, and community-focused"."Thank you once again to everyone who took the time to share their thoughts - we value your input and are proud to act on it," the company added.
CTV News
20 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Council votes to increase parking fines in Kitchener
Fines are going up for drivers who park illegally on Kitchener streets. City council voted unanimously in favour of the staff recommendation at Monday night's committee meeting. The majority of fines will increase by $10, including those for parking on private property or in a no parking zone. Other safety violations, such as parking in front of a fire hydrant or along a fire route, will also incur a larger fee. The biggest increase will be for parking illegally in an accessible space. Drivers will be ticketed an extra $100, bringing the total fine to $400. 'We want to make sure that those who have accessibility needs are getting the parking spots they need,' Kitchener Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said. parking graph fines kitchener Taken from the City of Kitchener staff report to council. Staff said they've seen a substantial increase in the number of parking complaints since 2017. In that year, the city received 7,826 complaints and issued almost 62,000 tickets, compared to 2024 when they received 17,162 complaints and issued over 67,000 tickets. 'There is some proactive enforcement in areas like the downtown and so on, but in other parts of the city it's on a complaint basis,' explained Vrbanovic. 'We've seen a marked increase over the last five years. In fact, over 50 per cent, in terms of complaints. Some people would argue that part of that is the fines really weren't a deterrent anymore.' The proposed increases would also align Kitchener's parking fines with neighbouring municipalities. parking graph fines kitchener Taken from the City of Kitchener staff report to council. The staff report also said the city has not had an increase since 2008. The motion on parking fines will be ratified at a council meeting on June 23.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Scottish drivers ‘used as cash cow' while fly-tippers escape fines
Scotland's councils have hit drivers with more than £25 million of parking fines while 'effectively legalising' dog fouling and littering, it has been alleged. Figures obtained from the country's local authorities showed they had issued more than 600,000 parking fines, worth a total of £25.1 million, in the 2023-24 financial year. But over the same period, only 273 dog owners were fined for failing to clean up after their pets, with the penalties issued totalling £9,700 across the whole of Scotland. Fewer than 2,000 people were fined for littering, with half of Scotland's 32 councils issuing no penalties at all. Two local authorities – Glasgow and North Lanarkshire – were responsible for the vast majority of the £78,580 of fines issued across Scotland. Overall, nearly £2,600 of parking fines were issued for every £1 of penalties for dog fouling, and around £320 for every £1 penalty for littering. Stephen Kerr, a Tory MSP who obtained the figures, said they showed that most local authorities had 'effectively legalised' littering and dog fouling. He added councils were 'all too eager to take part in the SNP's war on motorists' by issuing 605,512 parking fines in a single year. Local authorities insisted they were taking dog fouling and littering seriously, but noted that they were 'observable offences' that required witnesses for a fixed penalty notice (FPN) to be issued. The data were published after they imposed Scotland's largest council tax rises for 20 years, with the average household facing a 9.6 per cent rise. However, auditors have said they are still facing a £647 million black hole in their finances this year, thanks to public sector salary demands, the rise in employers' National Insurance contributions and 'intensifying service demands'. A report issued last week said they have attempted to compensate the shortfall by introducing more charges, hiking council tax and drawing on reserves. But Mr Kerr said councils were not generating much money from dog fouling fines, despite being responsible for issuing them since 2002. He said: 'This data is absolutely shocking – it's now clear that most councils have effectively legalised littering and dog fouling. 'While they're happy to hike council tax by up to 15 per cent on hardworking Scots, they seem completely unwilling to raise a penny from those actually responsible for polluting our communities.' He added: 'In the SNP's Scotland, it's apparently worse to overstay your parking by a few minutes than to leave litter or dog mess on the pavement.' Mr Kerr questioned why other councils were not following the lead of Glasgow and North Lanarkshire councils, which were responsible for 88 per cent of the littering fines issued across Scotland's councils in between 2023 and 2024. Glasgow issued 1,207 fines worth £48,080 and North Lanarkshire 525 penalities worth £20,880. However, the other 30 local authorities across Scotland issued only 239 fines to litter louts, generating £9,620 in revenue. Aberdeen, Highland, Perth and Kinross and Scottish Borders councils were among the 16 to issue no littering fines at all during the year. Glasgow city council was also responsible for the most dog fouling fines, issuing 81 penalties worth £3,340 collectively. Fife council was second, issuing 64 fines worth £1,360. However, 13 local authorities did not fine anyone for dog fouling and eight others issued five penalties or fewer. Edinburgh city council reaped the greatest revenue from parking fines, with 174,033 penalties issued worth more than £8.1 million. Glasgow issued even more fines, receiving more than £6.3 million from issuing drivers 184,957 penalties in the city. Among the other councils to issue more than £1 million of parking fines were Aberdeen, which hit motorists with nearly £1.5 million of penalties, and Dundee, which collected nearly £1.3 million. Eight local authorities issued no parking fines as they rely on Police Scotland to issue penalties. The figures also did not include revenue from low-emission zones (LEZs), which operate in Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. It emerged at the weekend that Glasgow's LEZ has generated more than £1.7 million in fines from the drivers of cars that did not comply with its emissions standards, since it was introduced two years ago. An Aberdeen city council spokeswoman said: 'City wardens have been given support to help tackle dog fouling and littering following calls from citizens for increased action against offenders. 'Aberdeen city council entered into an agreement with National Enforcement Solutions, which empowers them to issue fixed penalty notices to those littering or not picking up their dog mess.' Dawn Jamie, Fife Council's safety communities manager, said: 'Dog fouling and littering are observable offences, so to be able to issue a fixed penalty notice we have to witness the act taking place or have members of the public willing to give a formal statement to enable us to take any action. 'For dog fouling we also need to know the identity of the individual in charge of the dog at the time the offence takes place to be able to issue a fixed penalty.' Glasgow and Edinburgh city councils and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities did not respond to requests for comment. The Scottish Government was approached for comment.
Telegraph
25-05-2025
- Telegraph
Scottish drivers ‘used as cash cow' while fly-tippers escape fines
Scotland's councils have hit drivers with more than £25 million of parking fines while 'effectively legalising' dog fouling and littering, it has been alleged. Figures obtained from the country's local authorities showed they had issued more than 600,000 parking fines, worth a total of £25.1 million, in the 2023-24 financial year. But over the same period, only 273 dog owners were fined for failing to clean up after their pets, with the penalties issued totalling £9,700 across the whole of Scotland. Fewer than 2,000 people were fined for littering, with half of Scotland's 32 councils issuing no penalties at all. Two local authorities – Glasgow and North Lanarkshire – were responsible for the vast majority of the £78,580 of fines issued across Scotland. Overall, nearly £2,600 of parking fines were issued for every £1 of penalties for dog fouling, and around £320 for every £1 penalty for littering. Stephen Kerr, a Tory MSP who obtained the figures, said they showed that most local authorities had 'effectively legalised' littering and dog fouling. He added councils were 'all too eager to take part in the SNP's war on motorists' by issuing 605,512 parking fines in a single year.
The Sun
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Watch the moment viewers left in hysterics as woman appears to have epic hair fail during Good Morning Britain interview
GOOD Morning Britain viewers have been left in hysterics after a woman appeared to have an epic fail during an interview on the TV show. The news programme was running a piece about parking fines from private companies when they interviewed people in a Derby car park. 5 5 5 While some of them admitted they were struggling to get on the app to pay for their parking, a woman then popped up who said that even when she's on the app, she doesn't know if the fee has been processed. However, viewers were less interested in what the lady was saying, and more enthralled by her hair. As she appeared to have completely forgotten that she had a pink claw clip secured to the front of her hair. It looked as though she had clipped back the hair that usually falls over her face while finishing off her make-up. But then she made an unfortunate blunder by getting on with her day without taking the clip out. And after the programme aired, hundreds of people took to TikTok to share a clip of the woman's interview. Casey was one of them, as she wrote over the top of her video: "Do you think she's completely forgotten she's left this in?" She added that she'd been left "crying" with laughter after watching the show. While Dan giggled: "She looks a right state! "What the heck is going on? She's got a bl**dy clip on her head!" I paid £80 for a haircut but was left bawling when I saw the results - it was like he'd never cut locks before And the comments sections of both videos were quickly filled with others laughing about the woman's hair fail. "Omg I saw that and thought she will be mortified when she sees herself later!" one wrote. "I said this to my husband, I was howling!!" another giggled. "The interviewers well targeted her when they spotted her!" a third said. "Thought I was seeing things this morning when I was watching," someone else admitted. "Why did no-one tell her?" another wondered. As someone else wrote: "Poor cow, why didn't anyone tell her? "That reporter did her dirty!" While others shared their own similar embarrassing situations with hair fails. "I used a clip like this to hold back my fringe when driving… wasn't until after the meal and I got back into the car 2hours later and glanced at the mirror I noticed I had been walking around looking just like that woman," one sighed. "Done my big food shop with my toddler's Peppa Pig clip holding my fringe back, not one single person told me!" another admitted. "I've done this so many times but luckily remember before I get out the car," a third commented.
