Episode 1 Parking Mad

In the UK, someone gets a parking ticket every three seconds.

-You can appeal against it.

-Oh, I will appeal, don't worry.

I think it's disgusting.

With more cars than ever on our roads,

the battle over parking has reached boiling point.

-Is there any questions you want to ask me now?

-How do you sleep at night?

You people, you rob the general public. You're absolute vermin.

Just take your heart out and just leave it at home.

With space at a premium, councils need parking controls.

We've got a board that says, "Car park full," and they drive round it.

Engine's off. Door's open.

She's got a baby and can't even park outside her own bloody house.

I'm going to allow the appeal. You don't have to pay.

Oh, I feel great.

But for many, parking enforcement is a direct attack on motorists.

It's just about the money.

In my opinion, they are bloodsuckers.

You've got no compassion doing the job that you're doing.

And staff are in the firing line...

"Come back round here and we'll shoot you,"

is the most common thing you'll hear up here.

If you are civilised you will not tell somebody that "I hate you".

..as they deal with parking madness.

You might as well just stand here and nick it off of people.

When I say I hate them, I mean I hate them.

It's Saturday morning.

The Civil Enforcement Officers, or CEOs,

are patrolling the streets of Lincoln.

This is £70.

He hasn't realised that it's a permit-only.

This is a resident-only car park.

Who's just put that on it?

Where's he gone?

-Have you put that ticket on that motor?

-I did, yes.

-I live THERE, man.

-Where's your resident's permit?

-I ain't got a resident's permit.

-Why not?

I park here instead of on the road.

No, you need a resident's permit.

-Why's that?

-Because it's a residential area.

You see, "permit parking only" in this car park.

'You are a...object of hate.'

You get silly comments - "you evil git" or, you know,

"how can you sleep?"

If we worried about every ticket we did, we'd never get the job done.

Just bear with me, sir, I'll go and get all the pieces of paper.

When motorists DON'T pay their parking fines,

things can get really serious.

Did you know that there was a non-payment of a fine?

If it ain't in time, you're going to lose the vehicle.

It's early morning in South London,

and husband-and-wife bailiff team Debbie and Steve

are picking out motorists who have parking debts.

Is he paying or what?

The bailiffs company, Whyte & Co, are using

automatic number-plate recognition to identify their targets.

-So have you got the Transit there?

-Yes.

They've pulled over a blue Transit van.

The driver has an outstanding debt of £500.

It's not my van, I ain't paying it.

It belongs to my son, so I don't know how you'll work it out.

But you're not having it anyway.

You'll have to drag me to the cells screaming.

If he doesn't pay up on the spot,

Debbie has the right to take his van and sell it.

-I just bought the vehicle.

-Sir, the warrant is in your name.

The vehicle's not in my name, so how can you seize it?

-The warrant is in your name, sir.

-How can you seize it?

How can you enforce it like this?

-Sir...

-Don't keep calling me sir, you're a

-BLEEP

-idiot.

Steve, clamp the van.

We're seizing the van, sir.

You can't take a vehicle for a debt that belongs to me.

Bailiffs have got no powers whatsoever. Take me to court.

-SIREN WAILS

-They HAVE got powers.

A court order for a parking ticket?

Which you haven't paid!

No, six months, I've driven the van for two days.

Right, he's saying it belongs to his son.

He only bought the car... The van two days ago.

But why is the warrant in his name prior to that?

So has there been...? Can someone...?

I think there's been swapping about.

Yeah, that's what I think. That's what I think.

Diabolical. Absolutely diabolical.

Trying to earn a living, and you've got to put up with this.

People try to do all sorts of things not to pay their debt.

There's two things that would have happened -

either the vehicle was in your name at the time of the offence.

It's never been in my name.

And then you've changed it and put it in your son's name

and now you've changed it back again,

or you were going to change it back again. That's one scenario.

Or the other scenario is that your son

has put your name as the person who was driving the van at the time.

We don't get your names out of thin air.

400-and-something pound for a parking ticket.

You people, you rob the general public all day long.

I don't know how you get away with it.

You're dogs, absolute vermin.

It's not in my name! Why should they be able to take a vehicle

that's not in my name for a debt that they say that I owe?

They can't.

Absolute vermin.

People earning a living, this is what you do to them.

There's people out there raping children

that don't get three months in jail. People out there robbing people now.

While you're standing here, there's people getting robbed and mugged.

-What are you all doing? Looking at

-BLEEP.

-Parking fines still have to be paid.

-I ain't paying it, never. Not in a million years.

I'd rather sit in there and you'll have to drag me out

and deal with World War III. I'm not having it.

No, he's just loud. He's a bully.

It's not just in the capital

that motorists are up in arms about parking.

Parking? Oh, too much, love, too much.

And then these blokes are getting too much money.

Not enough work and too much money, mate.

Lincoln was built by the Romans almost 2,000 years ago.

Now it's one of the fastest-growing cities in England.

In 20 years' time it will have doubled in size.

Hundreds of motorists invade the city every day

looking for somewhere to park.

A lot of people do think the parking in most places now

is getting ridiculous.

You know, that's three hours, £4.

It's a lot of dosh.

But down in Sleaford, the first hour is free, which is a nice idea.

I think you'd get more people then coming in.

Trying to manage the incoming tide of traffic

are the Civil Enforcement Officers.

Can you do a check for me?

The CEOs are on duty 24/7.

To be honest,

if you're not issuing tickets, you're not doing your job properly.

Jamie, a graduate in heritage studies,

has been a CEO for four years.

You don't see the people, you see the vehicle.

You know, you don't give the fines to the person,

you give it to the vehicle for not having a ticket.

But I have had, in the past, people say to me,

"Oh, you've only give me a ticket because of my car."

Yeah(!)

"Oh, I drive a Jag and you've given me a ticket because you're jealous."

Chris, a former milkman,

swapped his milk round for the car parks 16 years ago.

£4 for today, and it's only £2.50 for a Saturday and £2.50...

It's his first patrol of the day

in one of Lincoln's multi-storey car parks,

next door to the Premier Inn.

-Hello, sir, are you all right?

-No, I'm not.

-You're not?

You've given me a ticket. I've been in the hotel.

An all-day ticket lasts until 8 o'clock the next morning.

Being ten minutes late means a fine.

I mean, there's a lot of cars here now that's got two or three tickets

because they're stopping in the hotel

and they purchased them all together.

I'm surprised the reception didn't tell you.

No, they did, but I didn't think it was a huge issue.

-I'm really disappointed.

-Yeah.

-I've never been in Lincoln before.

I've been to a hotel - usually has a car park.

Well, like I say, it don't matter what time you buy a 24-hour ticket,

it does expire at 8 o'clock in the morning.

-It's not a pleasant experience.

-Well, I agree with you, sir, but we just go by the ticket.

We don't know if you're in the hotel or not.

There's been very little leeway on this.

First time I've been to the city.

We spent quite a bit of money yesterday - more than we wanted to,

but I'm going to make an effort not to spend a penny today.

It's not an easy job.

I've heard people swear to me, I've had them grab hold of me.

Unfortunately, I've had ladies cry to me.

It is part of our job to keep the car park flowing.

And if people over-stay,

unfortunately, they get a penalty charge.

We do give every car a 10 minutes' grace.

Unfortunately, maybe not long enough for people

to sleep in at the hotel, but that's not my problem, unfortunately.

-Cracking day.

-Their boss is Rod Williamson.

He has to make sure the city offers enough car-parking spaces,

and that people pay for them.

If you go back to 125AD,

Imperial Rome introduced

traffic regulations for the ox carts,

for the deliveries, because you just can't fit everything in,

it has to be controlled.

Everybody wants to do their own thing -

that's the recipe for anarchy, and unproductive anarchy.

That's the sound of satisfaction.

The money's coming in and it's being counted.

Since the recession, budgets have been squeezed. More than ever,

councils rely on their parking-services income

to balance their books.

And we can collect between

6,000 and 28,000 a day, in fact.

Tipping these boxes.

This is where the hard work's done.

These are all our hand-helds that are charging up.

Tasers set on stun.

There never is free parking.

Somebody's got to pay for that land at the end of the day.

There's no such thing as free parking.

Last year, Lincoln made £4.3 million from Parking Services.

But none of this revenue actually comes from parking fines.

I've got some PCNs I need to check out.

Rod's discussing some of the PCN appeals

with his back-office team.

Somebody staying at the Premier Inn whose ticket had expired. Expired.

Oh, did they have a lie-in?

21-year-old Sophie has worked in the council for two years

and is training to be a parking assistant.

They can buy the all-day ticket plus, say, two extra hours

on top of that, and if they place the tickets side-by-side

they can stay in until 10 o'clock in the morning if they wanted to.

Yeah, there it is. 8 o'clock.

So we left him 47 minutes to get his muesli down and wander over,

and he still couldn't make it. And we're next door.

So she had the ticket, she'd just got it the wrong way round.

She's proved it, and we're delighted for this woman from Mablethorp

that we could cancel that.

e issue about 4,000 PCNs -

that's less than two per thousand.

Of those two per 1,000, over half appeal,

and we consider their appeal and waive the charge.

So very few people end up paying for a Penalty Charge Notice.

She's come all the way from Skegness.

She had a ticket, and we're more than happy to say it's cancelled.

Welcome to Lincoln.

Are you back, my love?

-I am now.

-You're very lucky, you're well over your time, you know.

Sorry.

It's a good job you come back then, cos you was half an hour over.

Just be more careful next time, won't you?

-So I'll cancel it this time.

-Oh, thank you.

I'd prefer her to come back again and pay more money

than me issuing a ticket and her not coming back.

We do want them to come back at the end of the day.

It's all about customer care, isn't it, at the end of the day?

We would see it that you have changed

the vehicle into your son's name.

In South London there's a stand-off

between the driver of this van and Debbie.

You've transferred the logbook to avoid distress,

so you do not have to pay your parking tickets.

By rights we can still seize it

because you have said that this is your stuff.

I'm not letting you seize it. It's not going to happen.

I'll sit in here for seven days and nights if I have to, you're not taking the vehicle.

-But there's a debt that needs to be paid.

-I'll get my son down here to prove it's his.

-But, Mr Andrews...

-I'm out here trying to earn a living.

A rule of law of this land is you can't take a working man's tools.

That's the law of the land.

This is a company van for business and work.

Right, but if you got it two days ago...

I can't pay that bill if I don't go to work. But two days ago...

I can't pay that bill that you're trying to give me,

which is astronomical for a parking ticket. £500 for a parking ticket...

-Two days ago...

-No wonder people hate them.

The vehicle - you said you bought the vehicle.

I haven't exchanged yet. I'm buying it off my son.

-PHONE RINGS

-No, but that's what you said.

-You all right, Mum?

You know, is it worth the aggravation for a 51 reg?

After 45 minutes of arguments, Debbie realises

that because there's some doubt over the ownership of the van,

she cannot collect the debt today.

He ain't going to pay, Steve, so you may as well just cut it loose.

He is not going to pay.

The insurance is not in his name. He's only a named driver.

Deb, you're in charge, you're the boss, you do what you want to do.

If you want him to mug you off, you let him mug you off.

Take the clamp off.

-Eh?

-Go on, take the clamp off.

They will go to your house and they will do the removal at the house.

Them bailiffs are taking diabolical liberties with people

all the time, and it's wrong.

You've just seen me stand my ground, they took the clamp off.

All they're doing is keep swapping the names about,

it's one that's going to get away.

But people will go to the house and they will do a removal of the goods.

There's many a way to skin a cat, as they say.

More and more motorists are appealing their parking tickets

through the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.

-You were the driver on the day?

-Yes.

OK.

It's a parking court with independent adjudicators

who are trained lawyers.

Shall we have a quick look at his logbook and see what he says?

"Lady returned, she got very upset,

"she started crying with a baby in her arms."

In Bristol, Toby Halliwell is presiding.

Hello, come in.

'There's a temptation for appellants to embellish what they're saying,'

so you have to assess

whether or not they are telling the truth,

and that can be a challenge.

The vehicle in question belonged to you

and that you were driving on the day.

It was in a bus stop at the relevant time when the PCN was issued.

-You say you'd had a collapse?

-Yeah.

-When the kidney stones move...

-Yeah.

..it just knocks you out, puts you on the floor.

Next up is Mr Langford.

He is appealing against a ticket issued by Bristol City Council

for stopping in a bus lane.

I felt I was going to crash the car, I really did.

-I felt so bad.

-And this is at Whiteladies Road bus lane?

-Yes.

-OK.

I just felt dizzy, really, really dizzy,

as in white spots behind my eyes, and I could hardly see,

and just... Just needed to pull over.

Now, is this a problem you've had before?

I started suffering migraines...

probably about 12 months ago.

And I play golf at a golf club

and I play with doctors at the golf club,

and I've told them the symptoms I've had.

So have you had the same problem before,

where it's affected your ability to drive?

I wasn't driving at the time.

Although you haven't produced medical evidence

in relation to the happening of the migraine,

I am going to allow your appeal on this occasion.

The PCN and the Notice To Owner will be cancelled.

Cases like that are difficult

because you've got to decide...

whether or not they're telling the truth.

Yeah.

Got really nothing more to say, really,

than I'm absolutely pleased, really,

and that's pretty much it, that's it.

In the London Borough of Barnet,

the residents and motorists feel the council's parking policy

has been working against them.

It's not parking control, it's a tax, isn't it?

Let's not dress it up, everyone knows what it is, it's a tax.

Every week the council issues a whopping 3,250 parking tickets,

and makes around £6 million a year from parking fines.

Old lady here, disabled badge, on crutches, got out of her car.

I think she was two or three inches over the white line,

it wasn't causing a problem, and she got a ticket.

That's the sort of behaviour you have to deal with.

There's definitely some incentive

to give out as many tickets as they can,

although they'll tell you there's not.

Most recently, the council got rid of all the cash parking metres.

All I want to do is go and get a coffee in Starbucks.

-Right.

-It's going to take me five minutes, and I've got to do this.

It should be straightforward, shouldn't it?

It's just easier just to put your money in.

Yeah. In a coin metre.

Barnet Council feel that they have listened to residents

and have reduced parking prices and introduced a 15-minute tariff.

But the technology still takes a bit of getting used to.

Bearing in mind I've got two children,

-so I try to save time by doing it as I'm getting them out.

-Right.

-It's really inconvenient to have to do this all on the phone.

-Yeah.

You know, sometimes I avoid it and I go to Brent Cross

because it's free parking.

Derek Dishman is a Barnet resident.

There's a machine there that takes credit cards.

That's ridiculous, that.

Yeah, it IS ridiculous! Yeah.

Not everyone's got a credit card, do you know what I mean?

No, no, I know. So you've got money.

So I've got to go and look for somewhere else to park now.

-Yeah, you have, yeah.

-I don't think that's fair.

Yeah, it's bonkers, isn't it?

He's got a credit card,

but he didn't know he needed it to come to Barnet.

It's like showing your passport at the border.

By day he's a debt collector,

but by night he's a full-on parking campaigner.

My name is Mr Mustard, because I was looking in the context

of the other bloggers who exist, like Mrs Angry and Mr Reasonable,

so it was evident that you needed a catchy name.

With only 1% of those issued a parking ticket appealing,

Derek has a simple but potentially devastating plan.

If I can get the whole of Barnet

to rise up and appeal every ticket,

Barnet Council Parking will grind to a halt.

So far, out of 52 appeals, he's only lost one.

He's about to take on his next case.

Mr Lavine is 93 years old,

and Barnet Council fined him

after he made a mistake in displaying his disabled blue badge.

Unfortunately, I'd put the old card on the dashboard

instead of the new card, and I'm determined to fight it,

because I feel that they're taking a liberty.

I'm sorry to hear you've got this parking ticket problem.

-Well...

-But the good news is that I win over 90% of the time.

Oh, good. I'm fighting this on principle.

I made a simple mistake.

-Yeah.

-Which was a stupid one, I admit,

but at the same time I am the holder of a badge

by virtue of the fact that...

I've got a lot of things wrong with me.

They know full well that that ticket is not valid.

Mr Lavine's grandson, Justin, has already written to Barnet Council.

They know all along they have no case and they're extorting money.

But they're still demanding he pays up.

Barnet have rules for that situation.

For a first offence, they're meant to let you off.

A parking appeal date has been set.

Derek will be there to defend Mr Lavine.

This is a reason to appeal already.

These are the notes that the traffic warden made.

If you know what NATW means then you know more than me.

No, that's it, it's a code that the man in the street can't understand.

Another thing that's wrong - they served the ticket at 14:47,

but they watched your car until 14:50.

It's what we would call a mistake

and the adjudicator will call a procedural impropriety.

I prefer the word mistake - it's easier.

He's a nice gentleman, he's lovely,

but he shouldn't have all this bother. It's just wrong.

It couldn't be more wrong to hound elderly people for money.

So I stop that.

Derek's drive to end Barnet Council's power over the motorist

began two years ago.

70% of people will just pay up for a quiet life,

because they're afraid of what will happen.

But once you give them the knowledge, you're giving them power.

And a lot of people must read my blog

and go off and do their own appeal, and I never hear about them.

But it was the death of his wife seven years ago

that changed the course of his life.

Not good, that one.

We would have been doing more coupley things that you do,

you know, so...

But it didn't make me sort of...

I mean, obviously a life event like that,

you stop and you think.

What would Lillian think of your...

Oh, she'd think I was nuts.

She... Oh, she'd be going, "Dishbag,"

which is what she'd call me,

"what are you doing?!" you know?

So... There we are.

But I am doing it, so I just have a little voice in my head.

Now, I think there's some more courgettes on the other plant,

you know.

They hide. They're like traffic wardens, actually, courgettes.

They hide and then suddenly they pop out and surprise you.

Ben, are the details coming over?

Yeah, I've got details.

It's rush hour in Croydon.

Bailiffs Debbie and Steve are strategically placed

on one of the main roads into town

to capture as many motorists as possible.

I've got it now.

It's gone.

They saw a car, but it turned off, so it's not coming this way.

You've got Lima Victor 56.

OK. That one.

-There you are, it's going.

-That one!

-This one?

-Yeah.

We've just pulled another one over,

so we're now going to speak to that person.

To avoid losing your car,

the bailiffs offer two methods of payment - cash or credit card.

Non-payment of a parking fine.

It was on the Retreat in Thornton Heath on the 10th of the 10th 2012.

At the moment there's an outstanding debt of £434.44

that needs to be paid.

Right.

If you can't make that payment, we will remove the vehicle

at a further cost to yourself.

Yeah. How can I make that payment?

You can pay it now by debit card?

-Ooh.

-Quick thinking.

I don't carry nothing on me, that's what I'm saying.

-I can't... We can't let you go unless the payment's...

-How much?

£434.44.

Have you got money with you?!

Yes, he has! He's lied to you!

He's got money in his pocket. He's holding out!

No, I'm surprised, because I didn't take my purse or anything.

I'm thinking...

Do you want to come to the van?

By neglecting to pay his £65 parking ticket on time,

this motorist has ended up paying seven times that amount,

with the lion's share going to the bailiffs.

400. I need £34.44.

You haven't put any charges on it?

-Oh, I have, yeah.

-What?!

Yeah, because that's what they tell us to charge, so that's what we do.

Right, the GL420 paid in full. Cash.

Well, he knew he had the ticket, he just hasn't paid it

and, obviously, now he thinks he should have paid it

X, Y and Z, so... It's all done. Another happy customer.

Parking skirmishes are happening all over the country.

This is Balcombe in Sussex.

-There's a car park down there.

-I know, but it's very expensive.

-Yeah, that's the only reason you come up here?

-Yeah.

I think this guy flies,

or he's something to do with the airline,

because it's normally here overnight.

Ex-military man Bob

has been living on the Newlands Estate for 30 years.

It's cold, so that's been here overnight, that one.

But this time the enemy isn't the council.

There's one just popped in.

It's the commuter.

I'm sure they come from all over. Burgess Hill, Cuckfield.

Every day at dawn, the invaders start arriving.

I'm afraid the commuters are, "I must get to the train,

"I must get to the train, so where can I park?"

Anywhere will do. So that's part of our trouble that we have.

Morning.

Just off to the office. Must be a train due.

6:50, Victoria.

I used to get myself in a little bit of trouble by talking to them.

Morning.

'They are so arrogant - they think they're the big people from London.'

And who are you?

I just live here.

We are a tiny rural village, not too many houses,

and all we want to do is park outside our own house.

The car-parking war began six years ago,

when the railway company contracted the car park out

to a private firm who started charging.

We're going down now to the car park, the official car park,

and as you can see there are cars parked outside -

on the main road, virtually - so they don't have to pay.

There are 63 parking spaces in here,

and you can probably count about 22 cars.

You can see on the board there

that the cost of parking is £4 a day.

It costs over £3,000 to commute from here to London.

They're expecting them to pay another £591 to park their car.

She's a regular commuter, this one.

-It's about £3 a day, I think.

-It's £4.

-Is it?

-Mmm.

-Which, you know, adds up over a week

when you're paying £3,000...

Over £3,000 a year for commuting as well.

-Yeah.

-You know, it really adds up.

Yeah. We have put notices on your windscreens to say...

-Yeah, I've seen them.

-..that you can park down there.

I've also had people very pleasantly chucking grass on my windscreen,

lifting up windscreen wipers,

leaving quite an abusive note on my windscreen as well.

Look at this four-wheel car in the narrowest part of the road.

The residents are hoping to persuade the commuters

not to park in their road

by educating them in the finer points of the Highway Code.

I've just got to do two here, put some leaflets on cars

to remind them that there are Highway Code implications

of parking like this.

The Highway Code instructs people

not to park near the brow of a hill or on a bend.

So visibility is an issue here.

Some residents believe there are more obvious solutions.

They should make that car park free

for people who want to park in the station.

-At the station, yeah.

-OK?

And they should have special parking places

-for all the people who live here.

-Right.

Forget people who are living in London, or go to London every day.

-Yeah.

-That doesn't come in to it.

That's their business, isn't it, really? Why should we suffer?

But I was sorry for your daughter.

-Yeah.

-You know, why should they park all the way up there,

when she's got a baby and can't even park outside her own bloody house.

Well, I'm sure if Mr Cameron had this problem...

it would finish next week.

They've got a bloody station down there.

Why should we, you know, have all the bloody traffic up here?

For the commuters, it's a no-brainer.

Er, because I can't afford to pay parking down at the main station

at £600 a year or so.

Yeah, it's a public road, I pay my road tax, so I figure I can park.

It is just getting... DOG BARKS

No, stop it.

It is just getting beyond a joke. DOGS BARK

No!

Debbie has caught another unsuspecting motorist.

SLK CK52.

Former boxing champ Bruce Scott has been stopped on his way to the gym.

He's got some guns on him, ain't he?

Walking around with shorts on!

Today, he's got a different sort of fight on his hands.

-Are you Bruce Scott?

-Yes, I am.

-Right, OK.

There's actually a non-payment of a parking fine on your vehicle today.

-Whoa.

-Yeah.

-Well, that should be sorted,

because I...paid the money.

What's the query about, is about the money paid...late.

Yeah, that's it. It looks like you've paid part of the payment.

-Well, I paid. I paid it.

-Because you paid it late...

No, no, no. No, no, no.

'The details for CK52 are on the iPad.'

Do you know where he got the ticket from, Ben?

-'Yeah.'

-Was that in Purley?

-Yeah.

That's... This is... This is done. This is done.

-This is done.

-Yeah, they're saying it's not.

They're saying it's not been paid in full.

-That's why there's a warrant still out.

-It's paid in full!

I think what they're saying is it was paid late.

No, no, it didn't pay late,

because they sent me a letter saying it's finished, it's done.

This is wrong. This is wrong.

Honestly, you're wasting my time stopping me now.

I checked on the 15th, I wrote a letter to the manager,

I said I need compensation, and they sent me back a letter

that said we're not going to give you no compensation, due to whatever.

It's done. It's done. It's done.

So I don't know why they're running me down now.

My hands are tied.

We've got a warrant for a non-payment of a parking fine.

-No, no, no.

-If it's not paid, they're going to take your car.

-OK, take the car. Take the flipping car.

-That's fine. That's fine.

But what I'm trying to say to you, I'm not going to be looking like a mug here

-because they say the case is done.

-Well, they're saying it's not,

so it's either paid or we're going to remove the car at a further cost.

It's your choice. It makes no difference to me.

I'm just working on behalf of the council on a warrant of execution.

This is wrong.

So it's either pay it,

or we're going to have to charge you more

because we're going to have to get a removal truck.

Yeah, I know, I know, I know, I know, that's fine, that's fine. I'll pay.

-OK, are you paying by card or cash?

-I'll pay by card.

Right, I'll go and get the machine.

Bruce owes nearly £500.

I only go out to buy a sandwich,

and I pay £500 now

for a parking ticket for five minutes,

which is wrong, man, this is so wrong.

This is so wrong. This is so wrong and unfair.

For motorists who wish to appeal their tickets,

tribunals happen all over the country.

In Manchester, Maggie Kennedy is presiding.

-I'm Maggie Kennedy. You and I have met before, haven't we?

-Yeah.

And we've got the video here.

This is the bus lane on Wilmslow Road.

Instead of going into THIS lane,

you wander into the bus lane instead.

People certainly get very het up about it.

Part of my evidence is based on my own personal testimony.

I wanted to have my integrity and credibility as a witness

to be tested.

Well, that's what we're doing at the moment.

It's only a parking ticket, and it's one of thousands that I see.

Well, I've nothing more to say than I've already said.

Do you want me to say it again or...?

I suppose it's our own little empire, the car, isn't it?

That's ours, we're king in there, and how dare you tell me

I can't do what I want to do with my car?

Mahindra Singh, a taxi driver,

was given a £35 ticket for parking in a disabled bay

whilst assisting his disabled passenger into the station.

The council saw you on 6th April

outside Victoria Station in the disabled bay.

There's a picture of you coming back towards your taxi,

-and you're sort of going, "What?"

-Yeah, "what's happening?" Exactly.

The implication that they're making is that you'd come out of the shop

and that there was no disabled lady, and you just parked up

because you wanted some chewing gum or whatever it might be.

-Well, that's untrue.

-That's not true?

-No.

-Where did you pick her up from, Mr Singh?

-Portland Street rank.

So she was on the street already at that point?

I picked her up. She came to the rank.

Yes. How did she get to the rank, do you know?

I don't know how she got to the rank.

Yeah, she might have come out of the hotel,

cos it's outside the hotel.

I was actually wondering

whether you're allowed to stop in a disabled bay

to let a passenger alight or not.

I think if you're quick about it, yes, you can.

Because the restriction is no parking or no waiting.

-Right.

-Not no stopping.

So I'm going to allow the appeal.

You don't have to pay on that ground.

Oh, I feel great. That's great.

I'm glad common sense has prevailed,

because that's what I was hoping for, you know,

helping a disabled passenger.

It's all part of our duty,

and that's all I was doing - my job.

On average, the appeal process can last up to six months.

It's the day of 93-year-old Mr Lavine's appeal.

They should call themselves Shylock Council,

not Barnet Council,

because, in my opinion, they are bloodsuckers

in every shape and form.

I'm determined to carry on with it, regardless.

If they want to, they can send me to prison.

A 93-year-old man sent to prison. Very good.

Fighting alongside him is his grandson, Justin.

He's got to take it to court, we've got to file the paperwork.

There doesn't seem to be too much common sense any more.

And with this, the council could say,

"Look, this is the first time you've done this -

"please don't do it again or we'll fine you."

It's another form of taxation.

I'd say 80% of people probably don't even bother fighting their case

when they've even got a valid reason to, you know?

They probably just can't be bothered.

Helping with Mr Lavine's defence

is campaigner Derek Dishman, AKA Mr Mustard.

It's always a little bit unpredictable.

But, um, we'll find out in 30 minutes.

After a hearing lasting 45 minutes,

the tribunal fails to reach a decision.

He wants to talk to the Council more,

regarding all the points as well,

and that's where it's left, so we haven't got a decision today.

I am actually more hopeful than Justin is

that the ticket will get cancelled.

I just feel that the whole thing is unfair.

You know, it's just not right.

It's not just the councils who have spotted an opportunity

for making a few bob from parking.

Costas Constantino is a parking entrepreneur.

His road to success began as a clamper,

until last year, when clamping on private land was banned.

All the people that were employing clamping firms and towing firms

could no longer use them,

so, you know, who was the alternative solution?

Me, Costas. Well, got it.

Yeah, the phone's never stopped ringing, we've done really well.

As the law changed, so did Costas' business.

He now hires out parking deterrents to private landowners.

It's got to look professional. People are going to open them boxes

and that's an image of our company straightaway.

Listen, that's fine, but from now on just put them in the box like that.

Private landowners can enforce parking regulations

with the correct signage, and even issue parking tickets.

You know, residents' parking only, unloading, customers and visitors.

Disabled badge. Customers and permit holders only, authorised parking.

So there's quite a variety.

There's 800 people using us, but most of them do not issue tickets.

No. We send them the signs, we send them a few nasty stickers -

bang, problem solved.

And they pay us a rent every year.

Costas' real passion is inventing,

and he's come up with a friendly parking deterrent.

I've got, like, this talking parking ticket I invented.

'Dear motorist, this vehicle is parked on private property,

'where parking regulations are enforced.

'A photograph has been taken as evidence,

'and your numberplate recorded.'

So they're able to leave a message for the motorist.

They can pile it on a little bit - "You've blocked our fire exit,

"you caused us all sorts of problems, we can't take a delivery."

And sometimes you can play with the motorist's conscience as well.

It could change the face of enforcement as we know it.

Let's say 75% of churches have got car parks.

They don't want to be issuing a ticket -

it's just not the Christian thing to do or the Muslim thing to do, is it?

It's just a polite request - look, I'm really sorry,

but don't come back.

Thank you very much. Thank you for co-operation.

Completely different from what we're used to.

A talking parking ticket?

No way, Jose.

In Lincoln, the CEOs are sticking to the tried and tested methods.

This fine is £50.

You attach it to the window.

Then walk away.

It's Friday morning, a busy day for shoppers,

and Jamie's patrolling one of the city's largest car parks.

Only a fool will stick around a vehicle

where there's a chance of confrontation.

Don't worry about the car you just booked, you just get on with it.

I've just got back here

and I've found out I've got a ticket on my windscreen.

That's it, I mean, what can you do?

I think if they park there once, they go, "Oh, I'll try that again."

The ticket was actually on the seat, and it's when you've paid,

you know, it's whether they believe you

that your ticket was actually in there.

When they're caught out, they get really annoyed for being caught out.

You don't pay for disabled.

Do you know the concession rate we have here now?

I know it's a two-hour.

Yeah. It's quite recent we've started charging disabled.

I think it's wrong to charge disabled. It's wrong.

-OK.

-I'm not getting at you. I'm getting at the system.

I'm getting at the system. It's wrong for charging disabled people.

What's the point in saying that? What do they expect me to do?

People complain about the car-parking prices -

what do they want ME to do?

CAR HORN BEEPS

I've got one of them!

Why do you think Lincoln want to charge disabled people

who've got a blue badge?

Money.

It's the whole question of WHY they think it should be free.

You know... Everybody pays for parking.

I think it's fair.

Being a CEO isn't all about giving out parking tickets.

They're also there to help.

Because the job is quite stressful

and we deal with difficult situations,

we need some sort of outlet and, you know, we like to mess around.

The machine isn't... Well, I've had to go to the other one,

-because I put £5 in...

-Yeah.

And only four came up.

I don't know whether it'll do that again for somebody else.

-I'll go and give it a kick.

-Or whether it's less coinage.

When the coins get wet,

and as water gets inside the coin chute, they tend to stick.

Are the coins sticking? Just give it a smack - they should drop.

I'll try it again.

People tend to be in a rush to put the money through.

It's just a wet chute, that's all.

Is it sticking?

Yeah.

See what I mean? It's sticking.

That's 50p again I've wasted.

No, we don't - we don't have nice covers.

I don't know why.

Good morning, Parking Services.

Back at HQ, parking assistant Sophie

has passed her CEO exam with top marks,

and will soon be going out on her first patrol.

It's probably not seen as the most popular job,

but it is good and it's really varied.

Ooh, brute force for this.

These are machine covers for the Pay & Display machines,

so if there is ever a problem with them,

then hopefully we'll be able to put proper signage on them

and, obviously, they're waterproof.

Try this one out.

So...there we are.

Yeah. I like it.

If I was young, I wouldn't come in to a job like this.

It's one of the lowest-paid jobs in the city council,

not one of the highest.

This job is more for a non-career person, I should say,

cos there's nowhere to go.

It's quite physical. You're on your feet a lot.

If you get a multi-storey,

you're talking about an hour-plus or more before you get a break.

By the time I get home, the wife will have a big tea cooked for me,

because I don't really eat a lot at work now, no.

Just normally a roll and a bit of fruit.

In Balcombe, Bob's had enough of the commuters

dumping their cars on his doorstep.

This is Victor, 96 years old.

Victor is Bob's father-in-law.

He moved to the village 50 years ago.

The estate was originally built

for servicemen and their families after the war.

At that time I was working down at the station then, and at that time

if you took a rail ticket you could leave your car there for nothing.

In 1953, nobody in this estate had a car,

so that lay-by was not made for the purpose of people parking.

It was only there for lorries and delivery vans

to come and deliver the goods in this area, you see.

That's what it was made for.

Over the last few decades, the privatisation of the railways

has led to the privatisation of station car parks.

People have tried to contact the railway.

They have sub-let it to another company, an outside company,

so the railway are not interested.

We've contacted the company, who are not interested.

Bob isn't a lone voice in the battle for space in the street.

Parish councillor Rodney thinks he's come up with a solution.

-Rick, have you got a moment?

-Yeah, yeah, come on in.

Yellow lines.

The cost of painting a single yellow line

would be of the order of £10,000.

Clearly the majority of this

is not the actual cost of the man with the pot of paint,

but it's the cost of the process that has to be gone through

to legitimise what he is doing.

People have been talking about white lines, yellow lines,

resident's permits.

I mean, for heaven's sake, this is a Sussex village,

a little Sussex village. You have a duty to preserve it.

We are conscious that, for some people,

yellow lines are the end of life as we know it.

People get so obsessed with it that they go for extremes

that are quite unrealistic

and just not what you want in a village.

You know, if you want suburbia, go and live in it

and take your garden gnomes with you.

This is a Sussex village, respect it. That's what I feel, anyway.

Probably be stoned to death for that.

Frustrated by the lack of progress,

Bob's taking direct action.

He's come up with a simple strategy that requires military precision.

That's Rick putting his daughter's car there. One hole filled up.

What we're planning to do is to park the cars in such a way

that no other car can get in,

no commuter can get in tomorrow morning.

Keep going, stop. And again.

My neighbour's supposed to be coming, he's got two to bring out.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, all right. Can you stick this one in here?

Well, I think it's bloody disgusting.

With the final car in place,

the residents of Newlands are ready for the daily commuters.

I mean, you know, you try getting flaming cars up here

and lorries, and it don't work, does it?

It's great to see the commuters in the morning

dashing down three minutes before the train,

trying to get a parking space,

and realising, "Oh, it's full - where am I going to go?"

So I don't know where they go, but they disappear somewhere.

They're creatures of habit.

They come here, they find they can't park, they miss the train,

that upsets the whole routine of their day,

and so you've only got to do this a few times, not at regular intervals.

The whole point is to have it at spasmodic and irregular intervals,

and they will realise that parking here is a no-no.

Parking tycoon Costas Constantino is in Devon,

spending time at his holiday home with his family.

Yeah, this is the weekend pad, if you want to put it that way.

It is a nice place. I do like the sun.

I've got my boat round the corner.

His eldest son is 11-year-old Xavier.

Well, you know, you have to come up with ideas.

You know, if you can come up with one simple idea

that stops people parking where they shouldn't, you've made a fortune.

You've really done it.

Costas has been on the hunt

to find a business to try out his talking parking ticket,

and he's found one on his doorstep.

Sustainable restaurant Cafe ODE is owned by Tim Bouget.

It sits behind a car park in the village of Sheldon.

So we've got two pulled pork.

Tim needs to keep the two bays clear for electric-car owners.

The problem is we've got two electric bays

and we want to keep them clear for people who drive electric vehicles.

I mean, you can see there's just not enough spaces for people to park.

But these motorists are also his customers,

so he needs a deterrent that won't scare them off.

-Bearing gifts of elderflower!

-There they are.

-Audio parking tickets.

-This is it.

He said, "I'm developing this talking parking ticket,"

and I thought he was mad, and it was an audio ticket and it talks to you.

And I kind of went, "Ooh, OK, right, that sounds interesting."

-It'll be nice to see what the reaction of people is.

-Absolutely.

Somehow looking at a piece of paper isn't going to make it more...

You would kind of more ignore it.

But if I had one of these, for example, if I drove,

I would find I would take more attention to it,

and I'd take more notice to it.

Like father, like son. See, there we go, Costas, he's just brilliant.

On a busy weekend, Tim gets to test Costas' talking parking ticket.

I feel dreadful putting a ticket on a car.

Now I know what it feels like to be a traffic warden.

I will put it on the front, so you can see it.

Let's just check it works.

INDISTINCT RECORDING PLAYS

It definitely works.

It's not a real ticket.

So they're pulling off the ticket.

Well, it's not working at all!

They haven't seen the message. They're opening it up!

HE LAUGHS

Oh, here we go. No, no. Oh, no, no.

'Dear motorist, your vehicle is parked in a space

'reserved for electric vehicles.'

Fantastic. So they did think

there was going to be a parking fine in there.

-We've got a ticket.

-You've got a parking ticket.

Well, no, you didn't get a parking ticket, you got a parking notice.

-A parking notice.

-A parking notice. And did you get to hear it?

-Yes, I did. It's very good.

-After he'd dismantled it!

Sorry about that!

I think it's a much better idea

than ones that tell you you've got a horrible fine.

Yes, I think that's a good idea, yes.

If I can get it on. These ones are so small.

In Lincoln, Sophie's getting ready.

Nothing wrong with having meat on your bones.

She's going on her first parking patrol.

Got it on.

It's just a clip-on,

so that if somebody yanks it I'm not going to go with them.

I'm scared!

She's being shown the ropes by Jamie.

Let's check.

It's expired.

Now, initially we'd always check the car,

-make sure he hasn't bought a ticket in the interim.

-Right. OK.

So there's none on the back. None on the seats.

And there's none on the dash.

Right. OK.

God, there's so much you have to carry, you don't realise.

-Just windscreen?

-No, it's on the driver's side

so they see it when they get in, so they're not driving off with it.

-So about there?

-Yeah, anywhere there.

There's all sorts of loopholes - CEO not wearing their numbers,

if you wear a hat, the CEO not wearing a hat, not wearing the tie.

It's not a definite that you have to wear a hat,

but it is that you have to wear your epaulettes with your numbers on,

or else you can't issue.

Parking manager Rod has managed to lease some land from the Co-op

and is building a brand-new car park, bang in the middle of town.

And there we are underway.

Hopefully, we'll soon see some tarmac and parking signs

and get some cars in.

But it's right next to the train station, surface car park,

the public like surface car parks,

they don't like going into multi-storeys, generally.

This one's going to cost 75,000 to get in to a place as a car park,

and then we're going to put some signage and machines on.

So you're looking 80,000 to get that one up and running.

I can see a ticket on the floor.

Obviously it's not clearly displayed, so I don't know.

It is difficult, but it's given me such an insight

in to what I'm actually dealing with in the office.

Can you just check a registration for me, please?

'You have to check a ticket to see if it's valid,

'it's a Pay & Display car park.'

You wouldn't walk in to Sainsbury's

and expect to take your shopping and just not pay for it.

It's a service that you provide, and it's a parking bay.

But, you know, people don't see it like that.

It's been six weeks since Mr Lavine's parking appeal,

and the adjudicator has sent the decision.

Well, I'll let you know

if I feel or I find that justice has prevailed.

Here we go.

Ah, he has allowed the appeal!

-Excellent.

-You've won! Well done, Pops!

Well done. "A procedural..."

..impropriety on the part of the enforcement authority.

Thank you, Mr Mustard.

That's all right.

To all honest motorists.

Honest motorists everywhere, Ruben, and that's you.

It's one small victory for the motorists.

Cheers.

In Lincoln, Rod and local dignitaries

are at the grand opening of his new city-centre car park.

It's a great site, just next to the train station.

It looks pristine.

Can I just say, then, thanks for everybody coming today.

Thanks, Mr Mayor.

And we've got Ursula Lidbetter, Chief Exec of Lancashire Co-op,

and a very big thanks for being our landlord.

Please provide us with a few more car parks

that we can operate for the city of Lincoln.

Build it, and the cars will come - that's our philosophy.

They hope the new car park will make the council a tidy £140,000 a year.

Oh, that's my first pay-by-phone customer.

That's where the money goes

when you park in a city-council car park - stays in Lincoln.

Private-sector operators owned by foreign banks -

their money's flowing abroad, ours is staying right here in Lincoln.

That's a good message.

Bailiff Debbie has spent the morning

pulling over motorists for unpaid parking fines.

We're working on behalf of the council

for the non-payment of the fine.

She's stopped a 28-year-old woman on her way to work.

I was backwards and forwards with Croydon Council, me, myself.

They clamped my car, they removed it because they knew it was unlawful,

and now you guys are telling me again that you're going to seize my car.

The driver has an ongoing dispute with Croydon Council.

If there was an issue, why didn't they just take my car?

Now I'm driving to work, I'm late, I'm stuck,

I haven't even got my Oyster, and now you guys are taking my car.

No, what we're asking you to do is make a payment.

-I'm not paying for something that I haven't done!

-No, listen to me.

I've paid a parking fine before in my time.

If I'm in the wrong, I will pay it.

Right, so it's whether you want to lose the car...

If I lose my car, I will be taking Croydon Council to court.

Whatever. What I'm saying is they've issued the warrant,

so what I'm trying to say is

what you're trying to do is stop any further action.

So you can either pay it,

and you go on your way and then you sort it out with the council.

Yeah, I haven't got 500-something pounds, and it's also not even right.

You know what, I detest to pay...

I understand that. I understand that.

-But what will happen...

-You just don't understand.

-I do.

I deal with this day in and day out, so I do.

I understand the grievances that people have.

You've got to understand that she feels she's got a dispute going,

but, as far as we're concerned there is no dispute,

so she's got to pay.

If I see her put her keys in her ignition,

then I'll just try and jump in the vehicle.

SHE KNOCKS THE WINDOW

Sorry, if there's anyone who can help you pay,

they can pay online if it makes it easier.

I understand that, but it just needs to be sorted out.

You're paying by debit card?

-Yeah.

-Right.

Can you get me a credit-card machine, please?

Can you get me a card machine, please?

So how much was the parking ticket initially?

I can't even remember. It was, like, £60 or something.

And how much have you just had to pay?

£548.84.

Daylight flipping robbery, mate.

She's now on her way to work.

She might be a little bit late,

but pay your tickets and we wouldn't have to do this.

It's £517.84.

Next time, Debbie hunts down more unpaid parking fines.

Can I have the figures, please?

I haven't got any money - I'm broke.

If the bailiffs have to go back to your mum's address,

they will do a house removal of your mum's goods.

Residents battle police over parking.

You don't face the problems we are facing.

And new CEOs descend on a small market town.

The minute anybody parks at the back, they're diving on them.

If customers have a £60 fine, they ain't coming back here.