Episode 2 Dom on the Spot

Never before have so many on-the-spot fines been issued in Britain.

I don't have any money for that.

And we're going to be following the men and women who hand out

over £30 million worth of tickets every month.

That gets my goat.

My jaw is dropping.

For behaviour that's downright dangerous...

..simply selfish...

It's been defrosting a while, that, hasn't it?

..or just, well, plain silly.

Get off your phone!

Doughnut.

We'll be revealing the cost of their bad behaviour...

-How much is the fine on this one?

-£100 for no seat belt.

-Expensive.

-I know, yeah.

..and how this could affect you.

I'm on a job. I'm working. I'm a builder.

The police are on it.

Out! Your mouth, now!

The parking wardens are on it.

Once it's printed, that's it. There's no point arguing the point.

And I'm on it.

Put your seat belt on. Cheeky monkeys.

I'm Dom Littlewood and I'm On The Spot.

This time I go on the spot beside the seaside...

How much do you reckon you spend a year in parking tickets? At a guess?

..where life's a beach for some.

Well, direct debit, £2,000?

But life is full of surprises in Pendle.

Oh, oh-ho!

Disposable nappies filled with God knows what.

This is not mine. Not my back garden, not my house, nothing.

And there's a surprise on the trains.

That's not your hand on my bum, is it?

And not just for me.

Because there's nowhere to hide

if you've got no ticket to ride.

You're not listening. I'm not paying £20.

It's a Bank Holiday weekend

and I'm in the historical Welsh town of Tenby,

which has about 5,000 people living here.

However, on a weekend like this, that number swells by ten times.

And as you will appreciate, parking can become a nightmare.

Because, once you've fought through the traffic

to get to this beautiful part of the world,

the next challenge is to find somewhere to pay and display.

That can mean doing battle with Helen and Debs,

the town's civil enforcement officers.

How many tickets do you issue a year?

Approximately about 1,600.

That's a lot of tickets.

What's some of the worst excuses you've ever had?

The best one is in the car park, isn't it?

In Sainsbury's car park.

-Yeah.

-You book them for no pay and display

and they come out and they say,

"we just went to get change", carrying two big bags of shopping.

Change, was it?

Clearly this formidable team don't take any nonsense.

And with the town quickly filling up

with holiday-makers armed with their bucket and spades,

I think we're going to need all the help we can get.

Rhubarb and custards, I haven't seen those since I was at school.

I'm just going to get some, all right?

Just need a spot of refuelling first.

Well, we are at the seaside.

Julius Caesar said an army can't go into battle on an empty stomach.

Refuel. Come on, girls.

Let's do it.

Who doesn't like to be beside the seaside?

But if you're caught parking illegally here in Tenby,

you could end up having to pay a fine of up to £70.

I can see a van up here to book.

-How can you tell from here?

-It's residents' parking

and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a permit.

Cor, I tell you what, there's no flies on you, is there?

Could this be Debs' first fine of the day?

This is residents, as you can see.

Resident permit holders only.

Eagle-eyed Debs has called it right.

This van is parked in a residents' only space

without displaying a permit.

That could mean this driver is about to get a £70 fine.

We have to wait five minutes because they could be unloading.

If this person comes back right now and says, "I'm really sorry",

-gets in and drives off, they're OK, they're in the clear?

-Yeah.

It's a game of timing, isn't it?

The clock is ticking and Debs' fingers are getting twitchy.

-Oh, look out.

-A minute to go.

The driver better be quick if he wants to avoid

a nasty surprise on his return.

So, once it's printed, that's it?

-There's no point arguing the point.

-Yes.

Time's up. It's a £70 fine.

The ticket has been issued.

There's nothing they can do as far as you are concerned.

-They can appeal.

-Yeah.

And they can go to a tribunal. But you can't retract that?

Once we've issued the ticket, we will not take the ticket back.

How many times have people approached you afterwards

-and been aggressive towards you?

-Not physically, but verbally,

people will get quite aggressive.

Especially busy Bank Holiday weekends, the car parks are full,

they want to go to the beach with the kids, they can't park anywhere

so they tend to sort of like maybe not read the signs

and just park there.

And right on cue, the driver has returned.

-The bloke is back.

-Yeah.

And that £70 fine hasn't exactly filled him with sunshine.

He doesn't look or sound very happy at the moment.

I might go and have a chat with him in a second.

But he looks a bit big, this bloke. Wish me luck.

Obviously your vehicle, yeah?

It's residents' parking, but they don't provide parking anywhere.

-It's a tourist town.

-Did you know that you shouldn't park there?

Were you sort of taking a chance?

No. I didn't see that till afterwards.

When you think about it, you haven't really got a leg to stand on,

-have you?

-Right outside the sign.

-Why did you do it?

Why didn't you try to find different parking?

I drove round and round.

The car park's over there.

People double-parked and triple-parked

and blocking people in.

You must have known you were going to get a ticket?

-Yeah.

-All right, so at the end of the day,

it's an expensive parking ticket, isn't it?

-That's one way of looking at it.

-It is what it is. Adds on to the cost of the holiday, doesn't it?

Yeah. Cheers, guys.

He seemed to take that in his stride, didn't he?

But you could buy a lot of ice-creams for 70 quid,

so maybe he'll think twice next time.

But round the corner, on Tenby's seafront promenade...

Nice view, got to say that.

..this illegally parked driver doesn't appear to be

quite so comfortable with the prospect of a fine.

I mean, he is trying to reverse, but, you know...

That kerb isn't helping his quick getaway.

Really...

Come on, mate. That much.

Sorry, girls. I just couldn't resist helping.

This driver has avoided a fine and a dented bumper.

But further along, Helen and Debs might have more luck

as they've got their eyes on a regular customer.

The landlord of this pub...

-Which pub?

-This pub.

-OK.

What he'll do, he'll park here, put the boot up...

-And pretend to be loading.

-And pretend to be loading.

How long ago did you see him there?

-A good couple of hours ago.

-Right, OK.

-Because he was loading,

I could see he had the bottles there, I thought, I'll leave him alone.

But hang on, if Helen and Debs left him alone,

what's that on his windscreen?

-Why has he done that?

-People quite often do.

I don't know whether they think that will deter us from issuing again

or not, but it means nothing to us.

-That one is obviously an old ticket he's kept inside.

-Exactly, yeah.

So, the old ticket trick hasn't fooled this dynamic duo.

But it could mean this parking offender is now in the firing line.

He's on a single yellow line and if he's not back here soon,

he might be adding another ticket to his collection.

The funny thing was with this one, he will pay every ticket.

-He will never quibble.

-He's obviously just putting that down as an occupational hazard, isn't he?

-How long has he got?

-We have 55 seconds.

SHOUTING

Somebody just shouted, he's coming now.

OK. So, he is...

Come on, matey. Get a wriggle on.

By my watch, he's not made it,

but it looks like Debs is going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

You actually ran out of time on this.

You're dead lucky. Why don't you park it down the road?

Because I can't...

At this time of year, it's very difficult to park.

And not only that, I'm... taking bottles back to the...

How much do you reckon you spend a year on parking tickets?

At a guess?

Well, direct debit, £2,000?

You do two grand a year in parking tickets?!

-No, no.

-I don't think that yellow bit on the dashboard is going to...

-That's an old one.

-Yeah, I know.

-I don't think it's going to work.

-That's last week.

-Is it? Good lord!

Two grand?!

Surely you could buy your own parking space for that.

He might be joking, but given how often Helen and Debs say

they issue him a ticket, I'm not sure if it's that far off.

I actually feel quite sorry for the landlord of that pub.

He came out, but he's spending a fortune on parking tickets

and it seems like he's trying to unload his vehicle

and then there's no parking spaces down here,

so he just leaves it, gets the fine, pays it quickly,

and just laughs it off. Surely there must be a better way

for him to do it. I mean, that's a fortune.

Given the problems we've seen this weekend,

maybe this guy's got the solution

to the town's parking problems.

All right? OK?

I'm not sticking a ticket under no horse's tail.

See, no dedication to your job though, is it?

No dedication at all.

-No.

-If that was me, parked illegally, that's it.

You'd lift that tail?

-If I had to. For the job.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

That's the difference. I'm always willing to get my hands dirty.

I'm getting the impression here that there's too many cars

for the amount of allocated parking spaces you have.

You can't have 50,000 parking spaces

-just for the odd bank holiday weekend.

-Exactly.

-Totally understand that.

-Yeah, people will queue to come in.

And by the time they've got in, they might be thinking,

-"I've had enough of this".

-Yeah.

"I can't park in the car park because they're full."

So they'll drive round and they'll just think, well...

I came in on the 8.37 from Paddington,

no parking problems then.

OK, letting the train take the strain isn't going to be the answer

for everyone making a beeline to the seaside.

But it does make the trip a whole lot less stressful.

I feel like I've won an appeal today because I'm working on my patch,

Central London, and it's a bright and sunny day.

And I've been invited along by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency

..who will be stopping HGV vehicles coming down the embankment here

and checking them out to make sure they are roadworthy.

They've invited me along to observe.

DVSA inspectors Russell and Graham are working with the police and

Transport for London to make sure the owners of any dodgy

or downright dangerous vehicles are hit with a hefty fine

or even taken off the road altogether.

-All right?

-Well, that's got to be good news for other road users, surely.

What are you actually looking out for here?

What we're basically looking for

is any type of vehicle that comes along,

whether it's got something hanging off of it,

whether it looks to be mechanically defective,

but basically we are also looking for older vehicles,

something that might have defects or problems with it.

-So it's instincts, really, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Well, these vehicles seem to be in good working order,

but what about this next one?

They've just pulled over this Transit with a trailer.

I'm just going to find out what's going on in here.

Hello there.

I'll shut that door. Have you found any faults?

Yeah, the fact that the vehicle trailer back there

is over three metres.

By law, they have to display the height mark in the cab.

Basically, it's a sticker or plate in here that must say

"carrying a trailer" that is whatever...3.5 metres.

-That is correct.

-And it has to say the height.

Well, that's one strike against this driver.

And it's possible he's brought along something to drown his sorrows.

I'm glad to see it's still sealed.

Oi! Oi!

What's that doing?

-It's for the customer.

-It's for the customer!

Is it? What about for the presenter?

Fortunately, the cork's still in place,

so no danger of a drink-driving offence.

What about that missing sticker?

It doesn't sound like the crime of the century,

but there are plenty of low bridges in town,

so knowing the correct height of your vehicle is vital

and failing to display the notice

could mean the driver is in line for a £50 fine.

So, what will Graham do?

It's a £50 fine.

That might wipe the smile off the driver's face.

Some people might say it's a bit trivial,

fining this guy 50-odd quid just because he hasn't got

a sticker in his cab saying how high that is.

You're right. This isn't a dangerous vehicle, but you've got to think,

in London, we've got bridges now that are 11 foot, 11 foot 6,

that has implications particularly in London for low height,

low bridges, Blackwall Tunnel, places like that,

where you are always hearing of a vehicle stuck.

-OK.

-The reason is, they don't know how high they are.

Fair enough. You've explained that one well.

So those people who might say it's a bit trivial,

-you heard it from the man. Yeah?

-Yeah.

I think he might be in need of that bottle of wine later.

Graham, can I ask what you thought when you was driving down the road

and you saw all these high-vis jackets

and the guy suddenly went "Oi, you - in!"?

You know, we understand it happens because it has to.

It's safety. Safety on the roads.

You're going to get an on-the-spot fine now, aren't you?

-How do you feel about that?

-It's the law, isn't it? It's the rules.

You know, you've got to do it, get a sticker and put it in there,

-so we don't get another one.

-If these people weren't here...

There's enough danger on the roads.

-You don't need any more, do you?

-There is. And there's enough motors on the road.

-Yeah.

-So, yes, it's one of those things, really.

Well, he seemed to take that well.

See you later, guys.

50 quid lighter.

A bull's-eye, but they've still got a smile on their face.

But the team have now got some bigger targets in their sights.

If you see a very nice, clean, quite new, modern vehicle,

all looks OK, let it go, yeah?

If it's from a mechanical point of view, yes.

We wouldn't bother stopping it. We'll go for the more visually...

It'll be more of the mechanical ones, the older type of vehicles.

And it looks like Russell's spider sense is tingling.

With the one that's coming down...

What is it about that that's caught your eye?

It's the type of vehicle, obviously in the industry we are after,

but also potentially how the load is done on it.

If it's got a load on board.

-Right.

-So we would go for that kind of thing.

He's coming in for a check, is he?

This gentleman is being pulled in here.

From my, obviously, inexperienced eye, looks pretty clean and tidy.

So what we'll do is we'll have the mechanical people go around and check it.

-Yeah.

-Make sure everything is OK on that side of things.

And they will check his driver's records as well.

-To make sure he can actually drive a lorry that size.

-That's a point.

So, OK, the vehicle might be fine, but the driver might not be.

Potentially.

So, it's not just the truck that's in for a thorough going over.

The vehicle checks out.

But what about the guy behind the wheel?

I'm getting the impression that you've pulled the lorry over here

-and it's quite serious, isn't it?

-Yeah, so far,

we've had drivers' hours offences but more importantly, the police,

who we share the check with,

have identified that the vehicle isn't under any insurance.

This could all spell big trouble for the driver.

A quick investigation has revealed he's driven more hours

than he is legally allowed without taking a break.

But driving without insurance, well, that's an even bigger issue.

The police have the power to dish out a £300 on-the-spot fine,

six penalty points, and it could even lead to

a court appearance with a fine of five grand.

Just knocked on the door there,

to see if I could have a chat with the driver, but he's on the phone.

No doubt, to his boss.

So, what's the verdict?

It's a £300 fine for the driver's employers for being uninsured

and a £200 fine for the driver for not taking enough breaks.

£500 in total, a very expensive day.

And to top it all off, the vehicle has been immobilised by the police.

So the only time that's moving is when another vehicle is towing it

-away to a compound.

-Or the police officer driving it away.

-Which they can do.

-The driver of that vehicle will not be getting in it and completing his job.

No, he'll be on a bus or the underground going back today.

I doubt he'll have his bus fare, with that sort of fine.

-Absolutely.

-Who wants that driving past them with no insurance?

26 tonne, fully loaded, no insurance.

I've got to be honest with you, sometimes when people get fines,

I think, "Oh, I feel a bit guilty".

This one, smack his backside, he needs it, doesn't he?

Let's see what he has to say for himself.

Mick, it's not been a good day for you, has it? What's happened?

No, it hasn't. Just doing my normal delivery collections,

got pulled in by the old transport police.

Done the vehicle checks, came over fine,

come back that I'm not insured for the vehicle.

Did you have any idea that was the situation?

No. None whatsoever.

When you spoke to your boss at the company, what did he say?

-They were fuming.

-They were under the impression I was insured to drive the vehicle.

That vehicle that you came in is now going to be towed off to a compound somewhere.

-Where have you got to get back to?

-I've got to get back to Farnham.

-OK.

-Which is Surrey.

So basically, it's Shanks's pony for you, isn't it?

-Get on the bus or get on the train, whatever.

-That's right.

-Your boss won't send a vehicle out to pick you up.

-I doubt it, no.

-It's been an expensive day, hasn't it?

-It has.

Well, it's a long walk back to Surrey.

But I'm not sure if I'm that sympathetic.

Well, the outcome of that vehicle being randomly pulled over today was

that the driver had been driving around for the last six months

without company insurance.

He didn't realise about that, it's his company to blame.

But think about this -

would you want something that size driving through your neighbourhood,

knowing it wasn't insured?

I wouldn't.

What do you think of fly-tippers?

I think they are a disgrace to humanity.

Fly-tippers? Yes, of course they should be fined.

Fly-tippers are out of order. There's plenty of places to put it.

Why would you do that? Just because you can't be bothered

to either pay someone to collect it or take it yourself.

No, I'm sorry, it's disgusting.

Last year, fly-tipping cost us taxpayers a staggering £50 million.

But Pendle Borough Council in Lancashire have their crack team,

Jon and Jeff on the case.

Right, Jon, I've got a phone, I've got a camera, I've got gloves,

I've got keys, I've got details.

-We're good.

-I've got my coffee.

-You've got your coffee.

God, antenna thing went straight into my gonads.

There's been a tip-off about some fly-tipping on a residential street.

If they manage to track down the culprit, well,

they could be looking at a hefty fine.

-We've got black bin bags that are...

-Yes, it's an alleged fly-tip.

-Beyond...

-Oh, this one again, is it?

-Have you been here before?

-Yeah, I've been here before.

I think so.

The council can now dish out a whopping £400 penalty notice

to people caught fly-tipping.

Ouch!

As you can see in front of me,

I've got one, two, three, four, five, six...

Five, six black bin bags, a couple of white bin bags.

Looks like there's clothing, all sort of waste in there.

So we'll have a look and see what we can get.

Whoever dumped this lot better pray

they didn't leave any evidence of where they live.

-I'll do the dirty work and then...

-Are you sure?

-Yeah, yeah.

What we'll be looking for is

to see what kind of waste it is

and if it is waste that has definitely come from a house,

we'll search it to see if there's any evidence.

And it's not long before eagle-eyed Jon finds his first clue.

There you go. Right, this is a medicine bag.

That will have a prescription on it somewhere, won't it?

He's taken all the mail out of his envelopes and replaced it with

crisp packets, but he forgot that he went to the doctors.

So... Yeah, we'll pop that here.

We're clearly not dealing with a master criminal here.

It's been here a while. Look at all the bugs and stuff.

It's been here a long time, yeah.

When you get the fly-tipping and the food has decomposed this bad,

you've got to be careful because when you open the bin bag initially,

the first thing that will escape will be the spores from the food.

You've got to just tread a bit more carefully.

I don't want to get sick.

Because then it will become more personal, you see.

But it looks like it's not just spores getting up Jon's nose.

Scratch my nose, I've got a bug or something...

Yeah, yeah. On the bridge.

A little bit to the right.

Other way. There we go. Go on, get in there.

That's better.

Things you have to do.

With his nose cleared,

looks like Jon has sniffed out another vital bit of evidence.

Here we go.

Yeah.

Inside of an Easter egg.

Box was...

This person's bank details.

Which has given us the address of the first bit of rubbish

we found from the first black bin bag.

So we've now proven that all the waste

that is here has come from one address.

So, this bin bag bandit is facing an expensive bill from the council.

I reckon that deserves a cuppa.

-Tea bag.

-But that's Yorkshire tea.

This isn't Lancashire tea. I can tell.

It's a Tetley tea bag, isn't it? Traitors.

There you go.

There you go. That confirms it.

-This address is just round the corner.

-Yeah.

That's three bits of evidence, but to add insult to injury,

the perpetrator has left another surprise.

Oh! You wish for it and you get it.

Disposable nappies...

Filled with God knows what.

I think I've got a fair idea, Jon.

Yeah...

Watch your mouth.

Time to confront the owner of this disgusting rubbish.

-Let's give it a knock.

-Hang on. Let me get that on camera.

Let's go. I will do the window.

-I've got you covered, mate.

-Right.

RAPS ON WINDOW

There's someone in, Jeff.

There's someone in. He just put his head up there.

-No?

-I can't hear you, sir.

-You'll have to open your window.

-Can't hear you.

-He'll have to come...

-He'll have to either open his window or the door.

Either way, he's going to speak to us. Whether he likes it or not.

But it seems this guy really isn't in a talkative mood.

Oh, right. He's coming.

Or maybe he is.

-Who are these people

-BLEEP?

-I'll tell you now.

-I want to speak to you.

Is it Mr BLEEP?

BLEEP

-Thank you, Mr

-BLEEP.

-Hang on.

-Can you check that...?

-Hello, Mr

-BLEEP.

-Hang on.

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

See these bin bags here? They are all yours.

-They're all mine?

-Yes, sir.

-Get

-BLEEP!

-No, they're not.

This abusive lad isn't owning up to anything.

Right, do you want to give this guy a caution now...

I think we should, actually.

Speak to you later.

-They are not my

-BLEEP

-bags!

Hang on, he's back for more and still denying it.

I've got documents with your names on.

What is my name? What's mine?

This is not mine. It's not my back garden, my house, nothing.

-Hey...

-See you later, mate.

-Do whatever you

-BLEEP

-want.

I'll tell you what, sir...

Hang on. Would you like to come and speak to us?

Come and have a chat. Come on.

That went exactly the way we thought it would go, to be fair.

The thing is, he's confirmed his name, he's confirmed his address...

-Yeah.

-We know he lives there.

"And you haven't got any evidence with my name on it."

-THEY CHUCKLE

-Oh, dear.

It's all in the game. It's all in the game.

Time for Jon and Jeff to head back to the office.

But that disgruntled dumper

could be heading for a court appearance and a substantial fine.

You need a strong stomach in the fight against environmental crime.

If you've been unlucky enough to come back to your car to find a ticket

slapped on the windscreen,

you might think you have no choice but to pay up.

But there is another option.

If you think you have been treated unfairly,

you can come along to a place like this to appeal.

At the London Environmental and Traffic Adjudicators Tribunal,

it's their job to make sure that councils are sticking to the rules

when they give out tickets.

Martin and his wife Annette are here today to fight their case.

Nice to meet you, both.

Tell me about your story. Why are you here?

We got this parking ticket for parking in a lay-by.

-On the clearway.

-OK.

And there's no real markings on it.

So I thought I was OK to park there.

-How much is the ticket?

-£65 at the time.

Right. Now, 130, no doubt, because you are appealing it, yep.

And then he got a 195 penalty.

-How come it's gone up?

-Well...

-Because...

-They said I didn't appeal in time...

But he did, because they put it all on the record that he has.

There's the 195 fine.

Is this the first time you've gone up against them?

Yes. And I'm regretting the fact that I have done it

because I could have paid the £65 and just shut up.

But it was the principle at the time.

It made me want to follow it through.

That's interesting. If you could turn the clocks back,

you would have taken the 65 and just not bothered.

But obviously, you're going to change your mind,

should you be successful when you've been to that tribunal.

What do you think your chances are?

-Nil.

-Nil?

-Very positive though, isn't he?

-Yeah, be positive.

There's no point sitting there going, no chance.

Even if it's 1% chance, or slim chance, have some faith.

You stopped in the best place possible

-for the safest reasons and that's it.

-Yes.

You see, that's a good attitude.

-Yours...

-I should be there, yeah.

Leave him behind, you go and fight it yourself.

-I'll send her in, yeah.

-Yeah, I would. Good luck.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

Martin's given up before he's even started.

It's a good job he's got Annette with him.

Martin's case will be judged by Caroline.

Come through. Hello, Mr Heath.

Hello, madam. Come and have a seat.

Registering his appeal

means Martin's fine actually stands at a hefty £130.

It's Caroline's job to examine all the evidence

and decide if Martin should be parted

from his hard-earned cash,

or sent off home with it safely tucked in his wallet.

From my screen I can see that the Transport For London

are alleging that on the 11th of October...

..of last year at eleven minutes past eight,

your vehicle was seen in Colchester Road in Havering

and it was stopped on a prohibited red route.

-That's the allegation that you face.

-Yeah.

London's infamous clearways are marked with double red lines

and a sign where stopping and parking isn't usually allowed.

Tell me why you are here, sir.

They say I was parked in a red route. I was parked in a lay-by.

-Right.

-So, I was not in the clearway at all.

Right. Well, this sounds pretty simple.

The photo should clear this up.

-Right, is this your vehicle here?

-That's it. Yes.

And this is...

Oh, I see, you are parked in...

Well, as you say, in a lay-by.

Good start, Martin. Keep it up.

That's the actual lay-by that I was in.

-Right.

-It's never been marked out...

I can't see a red... I can't see a red line.

There's no red lines on it.

Where's that, then?

This is the bus stop, 200 yards up the road,

which is clearly marked with a red route.

When you say "up the road", is it further that way?

Or back that way?

-There's one on either side.

-Right.

I drove past that one.

-I'm a bit puzzled.

-It takes a lot to confuse an adjudicator,

but I'm not sure if that's good or bad news for Martin.

Let me just see because

the photographs that were taken at the scene

by the enforcement officer are very poor.

Let me have a look...

I see, finally. There's a picture of the sign.

-Of the sign that's...

-Right.

Which... I knew that I was in the clearway, if I parked on the road,

I would be causing trouble.

Right.

The photographs are very...

..poor and valueless.

The photos might not be good enough to use as evidence.

This could really help his case.

In fact, your photograph is better than the one...

The one that I've got. You can't see...

..what that says. I'm not sure if you can on yours either.

You might be able to.

But this photograph seems to show the sign over there...

-Yes.

-Rather than over there.

It is alleged that Martin was parked on a red route,

but he says there are no red lines.

The evidence has left Caroline scratching her head,

but who's she going to side with?

I don't need to trouble you any further.

It's obviously up to the enforcement authority

to demonstrate that a contravention occurred.

And they've got to make sure that restrictions are clear

and that signage is adequate.

It seems to me that you parked on what looks to me to be

somebody else's forecourt.

And I'm not satisfied that the contravention described

on the face of the penalty charge notice occurred on this occasion.

I'm going to allow your appeal.

Bingo! He's done it.

Martin can draw a red line through that fine.

Essentially, what happens now is I'll set out in writing

why I've reached this decision.

I'm not saying that you are entitled to park there,

I'm just saying that the contravention described

is, perhaps, not what actually occurred.

Essentially, it directs the enforcement authority

to cancel the penalty charge notice, so it's over.

-All right, thank you so much.

-Thank you very much.

Happy days.

And to think he almost couldn't be bothered

to fight it in the first place.

It's a good job he had his secret weapon with him.

Do you know what? I'm going to stand next to you, Annette.

-Oh, yes?

-Because you went in there and you were confident.

Ye of little faith.

Zero chance.

-All right?

-Victorious.

-My photos.

-Your photos.

You said, "No chance."

You said, "Slim chance."

How do you feel? Good, because I think she did a really good job.

I mean, she could see it wasn't very clear, as well.

She thought it was a dealership.

Well, I did. Well, I'm pleased with the outcome, very much.

-And now you're pleased you didn't pay £65.

-I'm pleased I didn't pay the 65. Yes.

I think you deserve to take Annette out

-for a nice big slap-up dinner, don't you?

-Yes!

I do. And a bit of shopping.

You see? She's got it all organised, right?

-And a nice glass of bubbly.

-Oh, yes.

-As for you, next time, be more confident.

-Park at the clearway!

-Go out.

-Thanks very much.

-Get down the shops quick,

before he changes his mind.

-Yeah, will do.

-Thanks, Annette. Well done.

-Thanks very much.

-Take care.

-Cheers. Cheers, guys.

And it just goes to show you, if you think you've got a case, fight it.

Meet Dave Sherry.

The amateur headcam cyclist trying to keep the roads around Harlow

safe from drivers breaking the law.

I'm sorry, but you drive like an idiot,

you will get treated like an idiot

and you will be dealt with accordingly.

But not everyone is pleased to see him.

Am I?

That hasn't deterred this Batman of the byways.

Dave patrols the road with his helmet cam,

sending footage to the police.

The beauty between me and a copper is they ride around all day,

I have to sit like a pot plant...

If they have enough evidence, they'll issue fines.

Probably got over 300 convictions now, so on the road to many.

He might be known as the most hated man on two wheels,

but Dave has a very good reason for taking to the street

with his own brand of minicam-fuelled justice.

I was on my way to nursery with my baby boy on the back of the bike

and some idiot done a close pass.

I felt intimidated, threatened by that.

So I thought I'd turn the tables and ever since then,

I've never looked back.

Out on patrol, Dave soon gets his first catch of the day.

A driver on a mobile phone,

which carries a possible fine of £200

and six points on your licence.

Being reported for a hand-held device, yeah?

You are on camera today

using a hand-held device whilst in control of a motor vehicle.

You got good drivers, you got bad drivers.

And I seem to have a knack for catching the bad drivers out.

Oi, oi. There's another one.

Hello.

You've got children in the car, you're using a hand-held device.

You are four times more likely to be in a crash if you use your phone,

but doing it with kids in the back?

Unbelievable.

I explained to her that she shouldn't be using a mobile device

and she said sorry. Not sure this young lady deserves a fine though.

I don't think she's going to kill anyone, do you?

No, but that guy who just ran a red light might.

You couldn't make it up, could you?

People say, "Have you got no conscience?"

I didn't ask them text and drive

and do things they shouldn't do, but...

He's on a phone, look. Turn round, quick.

Idiot, idiot.

Idiot. That gets my goat.

When Dave gets home from work,

it's time to upload and report offenders

that he's caught that day to the police.

Police guidance states that you should check

with your local force first but, in general,

as long as civic-minded individuals, like Dave,

aren't endangering themselves or the public,

then the police are happy to receive evidence of motoring offences.

Yes, see the glare? Yeah. This one's a flop.

Got to have enough evidence.

Evidential. Sometimes you've just got to bin it.

A lucky escape for that truck driver, then.

But what about that silver Nissan he clocked earlier?

That's the car, there, we are watching.

And as you can see,

in his right hand, a hand-held device.

Pretty clear-cut then.

And if the police decide to act,

this driver could be getting a fixed penalty notice through the post.

Move it, move it, move it.

Move it. Six points, £200 fine.

Dave also spied a lady in a grey car.

And this one, I noticed the vehicle was swerving a little bit.

Telltale sign.

There we go. She's got a nice big mobile device.

She's looking down there.

They think being discreet,

putting the mobile phone up against the driver's door makes them safe.

It makes them stick out more, like a sore thumb.

Again, if the police take action,

then this lady could be set for a £200 fine

and six points on her licence.

While Dave won't win any popularity contests,

he's doing this for the right reasons.

And if it makes people think twice about driving like idiots,

then I'm all for it.

It's been a very good day, very productive.

And lots of bad drivers

who are now going to be put through the court process.

And the roads are going to be that little bit safer.

Taking the train and not pay is not an option. We have to pay.

You have a duty to pay your taxes and the same way,

you have your duty to pay your fares.

I think that if they are not doing that,

then they are actually causing the whole system

not to work effectively.

Anybody that's on a train,

they've intentionally got on the train without paying,

then they should be fined.

In Birmingham, 100,000 people travel on London Midlands trains

every single day.

The thing is, not all of them want to pay for their journey.

But ticket dodgers better watch out because the fare evasion team

are on your trail, and if they catch you, you're going to get a fine.

We are just about to board the 7.21 train to Walsall here,

where the three revenue officers

are going to literally sweep the train

and find out if anybody is fare evading,

or putting their feet on the seats,

or even just sitting in first class with a standard ticket.

Morning.

Fare evasion is a massive problem in the UK.

It costs train companies over £200 million a year.

So it's down to revenue officers like Saf, Annabel and Jelle

to make sure people are actually paying for their journeys.

Right, I'm going to hang in the background here.

Have your tickets and passes, please, guys.

Passengers travelling without a ticket

could be slapped with a £20 penalty fare.

-All good?

-Yes.

It seems quiet so far.

Morning. But it seems like there's a reason for this.

On this particular route, most people will have tickets

and that's because of the fact there are barriers at Birmingham New Street,

which means it's very hard for people to get through,

in the first place,

but as we get further down the line,

a lot of the stations don't have barriers

and that's when people try their luck.

Looks like it's standing room only

as rush-hour really starts to kick in.

It's packed, isn't it?

That's not your hand on my bum, is it?

No, you'd be lucky.

Righto. Righto.

But if you think a busy train

makes it easier for fare dodgers to get away with it, think again.

Looks like someone's been caught without a ticket.

You look like you are not worried about the fine.

-No, it's fine.

-Is it something that you do quite regularly?

-No, I'm just late today.

-I just...

-Yes. How much would be fare normally be?

-£2.60.

So you basically paid ten times what it should have been.

-Yes, about that.

-Yeah, OK.

-Yeah.

-A £2.60 fare to 20 quid...

-It's expensive, isn't it?

-Yeah, got the money, so it's fine.

-And is this the first time you've ever been stopped?

-Yeah.

-Will it make any difference now, what's happened?

-No. No.

So, it's this bloke's first £20 penalty fare.

Not a cause for celebration, but he does seem pretty calm about it.

And the penalties keep on coming.

-What's going on here, Saf?

-This lady has just travelled from Walsall.

She said the ticket machine wasn't working,

but there is a ticket office there.

And you are liable to a £20 penalty fare notice.

-Where is it you're travelling to?

-University.

-The University, yeah.

Broken ticket machines are a common excuse for not having a ticket,

but Saf's having none of it.

You just got done there for 20 quid.

To be honest, a lot of people buy their tickets on the train anyway.

Normally, you just pay the normal amount.

But isn't that a case of some you win, some you lose?

And quite often you get away with no fares? Being honest.

-Yeah.

-And how often do you get away with no fares?

-Quite a lot.

-Any hard feelings?

-A bit bitter.

Well, maybe next time she should buy a ticket,

because a £20 fine is even harder to swallow.

And it's not long before Saf catches another ticketless passenger.

You need to buy your ticket before you get on the train.

Looks like they've got somebody here who has not only bunked his fare,

but is arguing the point.

I'm more than happy to buy a ticket...

The point I'm trying to make to you is you need to...

Yeah, next time I will bear that in mind,

but I'm not paying £20.

So, despite being caught red-handed after getting on the train

without buying a ticket, this guy is not happy.

You are not listening to what I'm saying.

I am not paying this fine, £20.

He says he was in a rush and thought he could buy a ticket on the train.

Will Saf let him off this time?

There is going to be a penalty fare notice.

Yeah, that's a fine,

but the passenger doesn't really want to pay up.

Like I said to you, I'm not going to charge you £20 today...

There's 21 days to pay or appeal.

If you write it out then, I will just appeal it, OK. That's fine.

OK, that's fine. Have you got any ID on you?

-Got ID?

-OK, can I see your ID? Yes, please.

-What actually happened?

-I just got on the train, like I do every day.

I've just gone to purchase my ticket and he said that it's a penalty fare.

I said but I get the train every day and buy my ticket on the train.

Every day. And I've never had an issue.

Is it just a case of you trying your luck

and every now and again you get caught?

Nah. Not particularly.

It's more so that I'm too lazy to stop at the top.

-If I'm honest, like.

-And how much would this fare normally cost you?

I think it's £4.90, something like that.

So it's cost you four times as much.

Will this mean now that you're going to

continue the way you've been doing it,

which is, hopefully, buying your ticket on the train,

or will you be getting it in future in advance?

To be honest, I would probably jump in advance,

I don't fancy paying £20 on top, like.

It sounds like he's been doing that for quite a while.

Well, until today, that is.

It's pretty obvious he tries his luck

-and every now and again, he gets a slap on the wrist.

-Yeah, yeah.

You can kind of understand where he's coming from.

Yeah. Because his station is normally an unmanned station

but, at this time in the morning, it is manned.

So that's the first question I asked him,

"Why didn't you purchase your ticket?"

And he said, "I ran down for the train."

He didn't actually attempt to purchase the ticket.

Hence the reason why we've got to go down this process.

-It's a warning.

-Yeah.

And along with a warning comes a very inconvenient £20 penalty fare.

We've only been on the train for an hour

and the team have already dished out 15 fines.

But Annabel reckons she knows why

so many passengers are trying their luck.

You don't think the penalties are strong enough.

-I don't think so.

-No, it's not a big enough...

It's not a big enough deterrent.

It's too easy.

They're not getting caught. And if they are caught, it's a £20 fine,

it might be £20 once in six, three months.

Right, I suppose what surprised me there

is how many people got on the trains without buying a ticket

and thought it would be OK to buy one if a guard happens to get on.

That's all for today.

Join me next time when I'll be out

with the men and women who issue Britain's on-the-spot fines.