Gipsy Hill man 'fed up' with wrongly issued parking tickets (From Streatham Guardian)

Gipsy Hill man 'fed up' with wrongly issued tickets from Lambeth council

3:30pm Monday 6th April 2009 in News By Matt Watts

Over-zealous traffic wardens have continued to slap tickets on a Gipsy Hill man’s van legally parked outside his home - even though he has a large sign in the window showing he can park there.

Cy Gamblin, and other residents of Rommany Road, were given special dispensation in 2005 by Lambeth Council to park their cars with one wheel on the kerb - a practice banned in most of the borough.

But traffic wardens have handed him more than half a dozen tickets in the past three years - because they think his car is on a neighbouring street, St Louis Road, that actually leads into his own.

Their mistakes are despite the sign on his distinctive camper van - which includes a letter from Lambeth showing he has permission to park on the kerb, and also warning wardens of which street they are on.

Mr Gamblin said despite constant calls and letters to the council protesting his innocence - including copies of the original parking dispensation given by Lambeth - he is ignored, and is forced to go down official channels to get his fines overturned.

He said: “I’m at my wit’s end. You don’t understand how angry it makes me that so much of my time is wasted by these people.

“The wardens should have been told by now not to give tickets to people on our street, but they still do.

“Moreover when I ring up to protest my innocence I’m met with a faceless bureaucrat each time who tells me I have a ticket and I need to appeal it.”

A council spokesman said the local authority’s appeals process has ensured the tickets issued incorrectly have been dropped and Mr Gamblin had not had to pay anything.

He added: “But we agree he should not have to go through this process and we will be raising this with our parking contractor to ensure civil enforcement officers are fully aware of the arrangements in Rommany Road and are briefed regularly on this issue.”

• What do you think of the parking service at Lambeth? Let us know in the comments section below.