Landmark parking ticket victory for driver who took council to court over 'unfair' fine in Central Milton Keynes

A determined driver is celebrating a victory after taking MK City Council to court in a landmark case over a parking ticket issued at CMK.

But the council has put his win down to a an “unusual” blip that meant they were unable to contest the court case.

The saga began last October when Simon Petersen carefully pre-paid £3 for an employee parking ticket through RingGo on a Sunday, the day before he knew he would be working at the city centre.

But at 7.30am on the Monday he received a PCN fine – even though the £3 had been taken from his bank.

"Even though RingGo had taken the money in advance they set the time incorrectly. Apparently that’s my fault. However the app obscures the start time. You do get a text and email but on Sunday and until 8 am on Monday you cannot get it changed,” he said.

Simon sent an appeal letter to MK City Council, which collects millions of pounds a year from parking fines. But this was unsuccessful.

"I received letters demanding I pay the fine but my take was the council took the money but did not provide the service. Where’s the due diligence that RingGo’s clock and software is correct?

"The charge was for non-payment of a parking fee. The evidence was clear the fee was paid. So why was the penalty not cancelled at the first appeal?”

The council later waived the fine as “a gesture of goodwill”.

However, Simon decided to take the council to the small claims court, claiming for his time and the stress he’d been caused.

His claim, heard at the end of June, accused the council of seeking funds “they were not entitled to” through the parameters of the RingGo app, which also operates at Willen Lake.

“I won. The council offered no defence and the judgement went against them,” he said.

"I did not claim a lot, to keep costs down. I’d rather not have the value stated. Maybe I should have claimed more but it was not about the money – it was the abuse of power that angered me.

“According to the judgement, the council must pay costs as well… Now local council tax payers have to stump up money because of the council’s actions.

“I think it’s important that people are made aware of the glitch.”

Simon’s case could now set a precedent for other people who have experienced the same scenario in CMK,

The Citizen asked the council for a comment last week, but a spokesman said they had not received any paperwork from the court.

Today (Monday) the council finally commented, saying: “Mr Petersen paid a day in advance for his parking, and was sent a text confirming the booking, which started at 11.14am on 3 October.

"He received a penalty notice for parking at 7.33am on 3 October. We later waived the fine as a gesture of goodwill.”

The spokesman added: “Very unusually, we did not receive details of Mr Petersen’s claim from the Court in advance, which mean we did not know about the claim and could not contest it.

"We are picking this up with the Court so that we can properly consider our next steps.”