Fucking Lambeth Council have towed my car away!

[Donna Ferentes]

There was a certain amount of history to this in the given area though, which is that people

(a) were concerned, perhaps with good reason, that their cars would be endangered if they weren't parked close by their houses ;

(b) were finding they had to park a long way from home because the streets were full of cars parked by people catching trains and Tubes.

Which is maybe London, I think, and I think you can either have residents-only parking and shell out a little for it or don't shell out and do have it. But while there might be a bit of the self-centred motorist involved, at the same time it's not completely unreasonable that people are perturbed that they can't park within sight of their homes.

 

[Mr Smin]

OP needs the services of these people

 

[Gixxer1000]

I stopped reading here - why do you imply that it should be free to store a car on public land? You wouldn't expect to store anything else for free.

No its well enshrined in English Law that the parking space in front of your house is yours.

Edit;Bollocks beaten to it

 

[Gixxer1000]

There was a certain amount of history to this in the given area though, which is that people

(a) were concerned, perhaps with good reason, that their cars would be endangered if they weren't parked close by their houses ;

(b) were finding they had to park a long way from home because the streets were full of cars parked by people catching trains and Tubes.

Which is maybe London, I think, and I think you can either have residents-only parking and shell out a little for it or don't shell out and do have it. But while there might be a bit of the self-centred motorist involved, at the same time it's not completely unreasonable that people are perturbed that they can't park within sight of their homes.

You feeling well fella??

You proberly remember the area about 3 years ago prior to residents parking, commuters were queuing up in the morning to park up in Josephine/appach

 

[goldengraham]

It seems to me that your case rests on whether you have been adequately notified by Lambeth of the change to the parking space.

Ask your neighbours if they were advised about it in writing or otherwise - if there's a concensus that they weren't, appeal, and also set out your case in an email to (council leader) Steve Reed. Keep your tone reasonable and measured, and insist that you be reimbursed for all charges as well as the taxi fare to the car pound. The fact your neighbours did not know about it either should be at the forefront of your argument, as it implies negligence on the council's part.

If there is a concensus among your neighbours they were informed about it (implying that you were too but have somehow mislaid the correspondence), you may have to accept the ticket but I would definitely appeal the tow charge as being excessively heavy-handed.

Good luck...

 

[Donna Ferentes]

No its well enshrined in English Law that the parking space in front of your house is yours.

Really?

 

[editor]

No its well enshrined in English Law that the parking space in front of your house is yours.

Gets a bit tricky when it comes to nabbing the parking space outside a tower block where hundreds of people live.

 

[berniedicters]

There's a simple answer to this - use public transport.

London's blessed with an excellent network. Granted it must be a bit of a pain in the arse with small kids but its gotta be easier than dealing with the likes of your current situation plus insurance, road tax, petrol costs etc.

Oh, just what the OP needs...a smug-arsed post saying "feh, you shouldn't be doing that anyway".

How does the fact that - in your opinion - someone should have been using public transport alter (or justify) the capricious and high-handed way the local authority have dealt with this?

And have you, truly and honestly, always run your life so damned efficiently that you've never, ever fallen foul of a bit of petty bureaucracy like this? (say you have, and I'll assume you're either 12, or a liar...)

Honestly!

 

[Gixxer1000]

Really?

No of course not

 

[George & Bill]

No its well enshrined in English Law that the parking space in front of your house is yours.

Edit;Bollocks beaten to it

Is there any evidence for this, or is it a 'well known fact'?

 

[gabi]

Oh, just And have you, truly and honestly, always run your life so damned efficiently that you've never, ever fallen foul of a bit of petty bureaucracy like this? (say you have, and I'll assume you're either 12, or a liar...)

Honestly!

Apologies for upsetting you Agnes. Tis the wrong thread for such a bunfight.

If I could be arsed I'd start a thread on the necessity of owning a car in London. But. I can't be arsed. Sorry. I'm sure it's been thrashed out many times in the past anyway.

 

[ashie259]

Thanks for all the helpful and supportive posts.

Just to clear a couple of things up:

1) I don't feel it's my right to park right outside my front door. I don't live on Appach Road - I live on Josephine Avenue and could quite literally park outside my front door for free - in the service road. But experience has shown that that means having the car covered in pigeon poo all year round and lime-tree scuzz in summer.

I've tried parking on the street itself in the parking bay nearest our house, but have had the car vandalised repeatedly by passers-by, and also feel wary of putting our baby in the car with cars thundering by (as they do, unpunished by Lambeth or anyone else). So I found it preferable to park 150 or so yards away. I'm quite happy to pay for this.

2) Gabi: I've PMed you.

 

[plurker]

OP - sounds a nightmare - I've used this site often when appealing tickets, some knowledgeable people on there: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/parking-traffic-offences/

 

[pogofish]

Yes, clamping is a bit of a minefield for appeals, IIRC they often have to go as afr as the small claims or even county courts - You would be much better to go to one of the specialist forums (the one above, pepipoo, moneysavingexpert etc) for advice and help on challenging this.

In the meantime, you should be gathering as much evidence as possible, particularly if lack of information/warning/signs or a change in the regs/TRO is an issue. They are all subject to strict guidelines that need to be followed properly. Equally, you should be checking that the towing contractor is properly SIA registered - They all have to have appropriate licence now, but many are somewhat neglectful or don't fully comply. Equally, if they have given you a SIA number, you need to verify that as genuine and appropriate ASAP. Again, a surprising number turn out to be chancers.

 

[pogofish]

Sorry. I'm sure it's been thrashed out many times in the past anyway.

It has been. At length and repeatedly.

 

[editor]

I've tried parking on the street itself in the parking bay nearest our house, but have had the car vandalised repeatedly by passers-by, and also feel wary of putting our baby in the car with cars thundering by (as they do, unpunished by Lambeth or anyone else).

It's much worse for parents who can't afford cars and have to put up with cars thundering by just about everywhere they go.

 

[ashie259]

It's much worse for parents who can't afford cars and have to put up with cars thundering by just about everywhere they go.

Well, of course it is (did I say otherwise?). That doesn't alter the fact that Lambeth Parking have behaved badly.

 

[slcr]

I thought I read in Lambeth Life some time ago that the council had agreed a change in policy and were only going to tow away when cars were causing an obstruction? Something to do with the punishment being too severe for the crime?

^^ I saw this too... afraid I don't have a copy anymore. But it was really recent.

 

[fjydj]

^^ I saw this too... afraid I don't have a copy anymore. But it was really recent.

I thought the announcement was an end to clamping, and the devil in the detail being you'd get towed away instead.

the whole scam stinks... I've seen the tow truck removing cars only 10 minutes after the start of the residents bay hours. The parking fine is enough of a fucking penalty, stealing vehicles and impounding them seems like highway robbery.

 

[Oswaldtwistle]

Not going to name anyone specfically, but some of the halo-polishing that has been going on by the non-drivers on this thread is a little nausating.

Good luck with the appeal, ashie

 

[happyshopper]

Clamping not towing

Lambeth announced its change of policy on clamping in a press statement here: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/News/PressReleases/PressReleaseArchive/2008/160107ClampingAxed.htm

And fgydj is right, in that it refers to no more clamping, not towing.

But what it does say about towing is the following:

"Motorists will still face the penalty of a parking ticket and fine of up to £120 for parking illegally. In the most serious cases where vehicles are causing an obstruction or are parked dangerously the council will still retain the power to tow vehicles."

From what what ashie259 says this was not the case, i.e. he was not "causing an obstruction or ... parked dangerously". So it is clear that Lambeth is not following its declared policy.

Apart from anything else it would be worth writing to all the local Tulse Hill ward councillors pointing this out -

Councillor Toren Smith Email: [email protected]
Councillor Adedamola Aminu: Email: [email protected]
Councillor Marcia Cameron: Email [email protected]

I'm not promising it will get you anywhere but its worth a try. The elections are next year and I'm sure that parking is always a hot topic.

 

[editor]

I wish they'd tow away the selfish arseholes who keep blocking the pavements around Coldharbour Lane instead of picking on people like ashie259.

 

[ashie259]

Update/footnote:

They're going to refund our money.

They were supposed to respond to our appeal within 56 days, after which (according to the head of department at Lambeth, who explained everything and seemed a reasonable sort of bloke) we needed to appeal again - and at that point they would give us a refund.

But after 56 days, and no word from them, we rang up - and are getting our money back in the next few days. See - they couldn't even get this right. Useless bastards!

 

[berniedicters]

Update/footnote:

They're going to refund our money.

They were supposed to respond to our appeal within 56 days, after which (according to the head of department at Lambeth, who explained everything and seemed a reasonable sort of bloke) we needed to appeal again - and at that point they would give us a refund.

But after 56 days, and no word from them, we rang up - and are getting our money back in the next few days. See - they couldn't even get this right. Useless bastards!

There should be some sort of compensation for all the aggro you've been put to, not to mention the cost of taxi fares to arse-end-of-nowhere car pounds, and so on.

I won't hold my breath.

 

[gaijingirl]

When we were in Ireland we saw this story in an Irish paper.... in fact a local West country Irish paper - Lambeth is internationally renowned!

 

[Giles]

Perhaps traffic wardens could, with the right treatment, be rehabilitated back into the community and transformed into something useful, like traffic cones or something.

If you burn one completely, the resulting ash can be used as hardcore to fill in potholes and such.

Giles..

 

[Foucault's Wife]

I hope you get your money back pronto ashie259.

I once saw a tow truck in Northcote Road try and tow a car away with a baby in a car seat in the back. The mother had dashed into the chemist for a few minutes to get some medicine for said sick baby, always watching her car. Then a two truck turned up and started lifting the car. It was dangling there with a baby in the back seat while the mother was quite literally having a nervous breakdown. The tow truck people refused to put the car back down. So we blocked the road so it couldn't drive off with the sick baby. In the end it was only the intervention of the police that got the lady her car and more importantly baby back. You can say that perhaps it wasn't very clever to leave a baby in the back of the car when popping into the chemist, but nothing should allow for the attempted kidnapping of a child. I thought that if there was a person or an animal in the car they couldn't tow it. Obviously Wandsworth has other ideas. I'm sure Lambeth would have tried something similar.

 

[Epona]

Hackney did similar when I used to live there - changed the zone of 4 off-road parking bays next to the flats without telling anyone. Don't have a car, but had a visitors permit, my parents subsequently got clamped when they visited me and parked in one of the spaces that was now no longer covered by the permit I had sodding well paid for.

 

[Giles]

OP needs the services of these people

Excellent.

Giles..

 

[Pie 1]

Has anyone else been Lambethed like this?

Not been towed fortunately, but had numerous Lambethings over the years with permits etc.
They are quite simply, cunts.

Latest one:

I had a ticket a few weeks ago from Lambeth on Dulwich Rd.
Paid for 2 hours. Ticket ran out at 15:46 & I was walking back to the car & saw a from about 150m away, a warden standing by the car. I looked at my phone clock and it said 15:46:11 & by the time I got to the car 6 - 8 seconds later, he'd already written a ticket saying 15.47 - in other words, he'd basically been deliberatly loitering by my car before the ticket ran out, already written the ticket and just waited for his time stamp to click over to 15:47.


(Not that I give a shit in the end as the car's Swiss registered. But still)

Utterly, utterly uncalled for.

Not going to name anyone specfically, but some of the halo-polishing that has been going on by the non-drivers on this thread is a little nausating.

Good luck with the appeal, ashie

This.