Labour-run Reading Council has to pay back hundreds of thousands of pounds of parking ticket fines

A total of 6,136 tickets were incorrectly issued and paid for parking on red routes which were not legally enforceable

Commenting on Reading Council incorrectly issuing 6,000 parking charge notices (PCNs), Councillor Dave McElroy (Green Party, Redlands Ward) said: “I was shocked and disappointed to learn that the Labour-run council had issued a massive 6,000 parking tickets without the correct legal documentation in place. The council is now going to have to find hundreds of thousands of pounds to repay these fines at a time when councils are already on the brink of bankruptcy. This money is on top of the extra legal costs and other work to put this right that the council will have incurred. I wouldn’t be surprised if the total costs were well over £0.5 million.

“Some people will have had the stress of bailiffs turning up on the doorstep because they haven’t paid one of these incorrectly issued parking tickets.

“That this has gone on for so long brings into question the culture at the council under the Labour administration.

“Green councillors will keep up the pressure to make sure this is put right, to change the culture at the council so people aren’t afraid to speak out and to lobby for proper levels of funding for councils so they can provide decent services.

“The more people who get involved with the Green Party the more of a difference we can make on issues like this.”

The areas impacted are:

TRO 1 – Red Route East including Kings Road from its junction with Watlington Street to Cemetery Junction, Wokingham Road and partially into adjoining streets such as Queens Road and London Road. Between 11 – 15 January 2018 and after 11 July 2018 – 6 March 2024. Pay and display and permit parking restrictions later introduced for Wokingham Road are not affected.

TRO 2 – Swainstone Road/Waldeck Street – Waldeck Street Resident Permit Parking and Swainstone Road Resident Permit Parking scheme. PCNs issued in respect of Waldeck Street between 1 March 2016 and 29 September 2021and PCNs issued in respect of Swainstone Road from 1 March 2016 and 4 June 2024.

TRO 3 – Red Route West – Tilehurst and West Reading – Red Route (Experimental). 13 PCNs issued between 18 May 2018 – 24 May 2018 over a seven-day period.

TRO 5 – Southcote Verge and Footway – ‘Southcote’ Verge and Footway Parking ban area, including the whole lengths of Southcote Lane, Ashampstead Road, Brunel Road, Circuit Lane, Frilsham Road, Gainsborough Road and Virginia Way. PCNs issued on or after 9 August 2015 until 7 June 2024.

TRO 6 – Tilehurst and Kentwood – Tilehurst and Kentwood’ Verge and Footway Parking ban area, including Church End Lane, Lower Elmstone Drive, Mayfair, Norcot Road, Oak Tree Road, Overdown Road, Park Lane, Recreation Road, School Road, The Meadway and Westwood Road. PCNs issued on or after 8 November 2013 until 7 June 2024.

A total of 6,136 PCNs were incorrectly issued and paid primarily between July 2018 and 2024, however, some date back to 2013. The council is asking motorists who believe they received and paid a penalty to visit the website to claim their reimbursement.

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