Reffro

Parking clowns are banned from touching a parked motorcycle, so by covering your licence plate and moving the tax disc out of site they can't touch you. But councils who employ parking clowns are lobbying to get a change in the law. Deliberately obstructing your licence plate and or tax disc could be seen as an offence by the cops, but not if you park the bike and put a bike cover to keep the elements off the bike. Parking clowns wouldn't be able to ticket you as they have no licence plate to see, and the bike is still road legal should any copper be bothered to ask you about it.

father_jack

So you could do that for a car too - like in Trigger Happy TV where he drags the cammo net over the car

Diesel

I have heard fairy tales of bikes being lifted by the cops, but all you need to do is chain it down - always a good idea anyway.

Thankfully it's beyond the cops to sit and wait for you and do you for no numberplate, but if they start then it time for a chained down full cover. Even rode home from Soho to North London without the plate once - ooops!!!!!!!!

We WILL win this battle whilst the bike bays are overfull since they prefer to enjoy revenue from car parking bays.

Reffro

Just quickly father jack you can't do that for cars, this ruling only applies to motorcycles and only when they are off the publuc highway/road. The parking clowns like to give tickets to motorbikes parked on the wide pavement you sometimes find, even if there is no obstruction, so the method above only defeats that. If it was an obscruction the police have to give out the tickets. Important distinction here, parking clowns are not the old style black/yellow uniformed traffic wardens as they were employed by the police, parking clowns are employed usually by private companies working on the behalf of local councils. Remember that slug balancing w***er sweaty sock on the BBC programme 'Clampers' and you get the gist of a parking clown.

DavidRB

More food for thought:
http://www.parkingticket.co.uk/

sebastian

I automatically appeal all tickets,regrdless of whther it was a fair cop or not, just to cuase them delay and costs in processing the appeal.

If I have a genuine technical/legal reason for appeal I go down that route assertively and will always win if I am in the right.

If I dont have a legal appeal I then do a "combined sob-story with threats" tactic. Basically you invent a story that you were in an emergency situation or visiting someone dying of cancer/wife gone into labour or an elderly relative being picked up who is disabled, and then add that if you dont get a satisfactory resolution that you are sure that the London Evening Standard (or other high profile local paper) or Watchdog would be interested in their callousness.

I have had considerable success with this policy.

If everyone appealed it would cripple their system and make it financially unviable.

Its no wonder there is no respect for authority in this country anymore when its trhe local authority that screws us in the mname of the law. SO **** EM I SAY, ITS WAR.

father_jack

Good work Sebastien

A friend of a friend who works for the Council in the processing area says they ALWAYS drop the case if you pursue things. Too much easy money to be made for them to bother.

That parking site has a forum - that would drive you mental !!

Luke

Would anyone pay to see a Warden get "done?"???

ChrisS/P1

They are all on strike next Wednesday, so we can all park wherever the bloody hell we want. Should be interesting.

BarryK

As the guy's site says, yes we need some parking restrictions, but as with bogus speed limits, they are now making them up just to collect money.

They serve no other useful purpose.

father_jack

Indeed - we have the evil parking clowns here too.

Had to think about the slug balancing winker for a second there

We used to have a warden, back in my old courier days, who we called "Traffic Warden b@stardos" cos he had a huge moustache, aviator shades and the cap pulled down over his eyes. Looked like a mexican copper - this was back in the black n yellow days.
He used to let us park anywhere on the job as it were, so spose he wasn't that bad.
Time for another bike methinks.......

edited to un-bleep swearing.......

[Edited by father_jack - 7/11/2002 6:28:02 PM]