returning to his car after the Wolves versus Leeds match, my father, who is a pensioner with a heart condition and diabetes, was amazed to find a fixed penalty notice on his windscreen stating his vehicle was an 'unnecessary obstruction'.
The car was parked on a large expanse of pavement in front of a derelict building next to Hampton Motors garage on Bewsey Road and there was at least a seven-foot width of footpath to the rear of the vehicle to allow pedestrians to pass.
In fact, the garage uses all this pavement area for parking during business hours all through the week.
As the police are not slapping tickets on these vehicles on a day-to-day basis, it obviously must be a legitimate parking area and as the business was closed due to a bank holiday my father judged he would not be causing any problems by parking here. (There are many other businesses on Bewsey Road that use large pavement areas for parking and I do not see the police objecting).
What is really annoying is that my father sent a polite letter to the police explaining all the above details and the fact that the issuing officer had not even entered the time correctly on the ticket. He received an almost predictable reply stating pay within 28 days or else, indicating they probably did not read the letter properly or they do not have a clue where Bewsey Road is. This is obviously a knee-jerk exercise in issuing the greatest number of parking tickets possible to make it look like the police are doing their job properly on match days in light of recent criticism.
We are supposed to feel sorry for the police because they are understaffed and the courts are too soft, but they do not seem to be doing themselves any favours to win public support.
Once again it is the motorists' who are hit. Are they employing officers who can assess and read a situation or are they employing drones?
SHAUN Summersgill
Bewsey
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