A butcher has won a two year battle after proving parking lines were in the wrong place.
Surrey butcher proves double yellow lines were in wrong place. He had amounted over 50 tickets which added up to £20,000 in fines. Butcher Gary Sell, 36, from Tadworth, Surrey had parked his car on double yellow lines near his shop for years.
However, in early 2019, he started receiving fines on his windscreen. He believed he was parked in a private road and refused to pay them. After receiving hundreds of letters from the council and even bailiffs trying to gain access to his property he stood his ground.
In protest he continued to park on the same spot every day. Believing that the lines shouldn’t have been there.
Mr Sell went online and managed to produce documents which stated that the lines were indeed painted in the wrong place. And should not have been there.
After admitting defeat Surrey County Council asked Reigate and Banstead Borough Council to cancel all the fines. And offered him £300 in compensation.
Mr Sell said that the amount offered was “insulting”. And said he would be instructing a solicitor to start court proceedings.
He said “It feels really good. One, it’s like phew I haven’t got that massive debt. And two, it wasn’t right what they were doing”.
Earlier, Reigate and Banstead Borough Council claimed in December 2019 that they had a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO). Dating back to 2004 for the area.
They stated they could paint lines and issue tickets. However Mr Sell claims that when he approached Surrey County Council to view the TRO they refused.
So he started trawling through their website and found the TRO with it’s boundaries himself.
It took until March 2021 for the council to admit they were wrong.
A council spokesman said. “Although they were issued in good faith, Surrey County Council acknowledged errors regarding fines issued to Mr Sell in a letter on 16 March 2021.”
Reigate and Banstead Borough Council added. “We have been advised by Surrey County Council to cease enforcing at the location. And we will be cancelling the unpaid fines and refunding any payments.
We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to Mr Sell. And we are pleased the matter has been resolved.”