Residents in a UK city have been left fuming after being fined for parking outside their own homes. A delay in issuing parking permits led to some residents in a Nottingham suburb being wrongly fined.
Parking in Ebers Road, Carrington, has recently become for those with paid permits only, but Nottingham City Council has taken four weeks to get the passes out to drivers after they complete an online form.
The council has blamed the delays on issues with its permit processing system after the £35 charge was introduced for residents in their second year of having a permit with the first year being free.
Lucy Brine, who lives on the street, told the BBC she ordered her paid permit on 21 March – 11 days before the deadline, but had not received it a month later.
She said: “It’s ridiculous, the traffic wardens are here that often, they should be paying council tax. We don’t know what to do.”
She told the broadcaster that appeals made to the council had been “instantly rejected”, and no-one from the council had been available to discuss the status of the overdue permits.
Ms Brine added: “A lot of people don’t have driveways here so they have to park on the street. The council are sending out wardens to ticket everybody.
“Even if they have an expired permit displayed, it doesn’t make any difference.”
Hazel McDonald, 49, told the BBC she had received a parking ticket despite having waited four weeks for her permit to be issued.
She said: “I’m not sure how it’s ever going to be resolved. The system isn’t working and as residents, we don’t feel like we have a right of reply.
Hazel McDonald, 49, said she had received a parking ticket despite having waited four weeks for her permit to be issued.
“We have nowhere to go to express our worries and frustrations.”
The city council told the BBC it was confident the technical issues its system had encountered “have now been resolved”.
The cost of parking permits increases to £50 for residents in the third year.
A spokesman for the council said: “Charging in this street was introduced last summer and all residents are sent a reminder six weeks before their permit runs out to make sure they have plenty of time to renew before it expires.
“There have been some issues recently with the permit-processing system and wider capacity issues within the council department which handles applications, so there is currently a two to three-week turnaround time.
“This is a little longer than usual but we’re confident the technical issues have now been resolved.”
