A COUNCIL has been rapped by a national parking watchdog for issuing tickets illegally.

Oldham council now faces a flood of appeals from drivers demanding their cash back after communications engineer John Reeves' é30 parking fine was quashed.

John got the ticket after parking his van in Oldham town centre last March.

Determined to fight it, he lodged an appeal and 12 months later has won his case.

The National Parking Adjudication Service (NPAS) wrote to him, explaining their decision and raising "concerns" about Oldham's handling of the matter.

John said: "The ticket should not have been issued in the first place and to let the matter drag on for almost a year is just crazy.

"I did some research into the Road Traffic Act and found out the ticket was incorrectly issued.

"The Act clearly stated the ticket had to have the date of the offence and the date of issue and the ticket I was given had only the date of the offence.

"I lodged an appeal with the NPAS and they sent me a letter upholding the appeal."

Campaigners

Driving campaigners are now hoping other motorists will challenge their tickets.

Neil Heron, of The People Say No Campaign, said: "The Road Traffic Act is quite clear about the wording required on any tickets issued and there have been a number of high- profile cases in recent years which have highlighted the issue.

"We are currently waiting for a legal opinion about whether drivers who have paid can expect financial redress and, if they find in the drivers' favour, as we expect them to, the implications are enormous.

"Councils could face financial demands for thousands of paid tickets which have been issued incorrectly."

However, a council spokesman insisted the ticket was legal but admitted there was a `technical problem'.

He said: "Mr Reeves was in contravention of the parking regulations on Union Street on March 20, 2006, and was issued with a legal penalty charge notice.

"However, Oldham council has identified a technical problem with the penalty charge notice, and as a result has withdrawn the ticket. This technical problem has since been rectified.
"To date, the council has withdrawn 42 penalty charge notices as a result of appeals through the national parking adjudication service in relation to the technical problem only."