Mayor's anger over 'parking malarkey' fines mix-up

The tickets were issued to drivers on Lumley Road in Skegness

A council has apologised and cancelled 36 parking tickets after they were incorrectly issued.

The fines were handed out on Lumley Road in Skegness, Lincolnshire, after a mix-up over the date of a road closure for a motorcycle parade.

It took place on Saturday 28 September, however parking suspension signs put up two weeks earlier incorrectly said Sunday was the day of the closure, leading to the £70 penalties being issued to residents and business owners.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the town's mayor, councillor Adrian Findley, described it as a “very sad day for Skegness” adding that parking enforcement officers used “zero common sense”.

“This parking malarkey, I don’t know how it’s come about, but it’s upset a lot of people,” he said.

He highlighted how one disabled couple received a second fine after moving their car to a different spot.

Matt Jones, parking services manager at Lincolnshire County Council, said all the parking tickets had been cancelled and anybody who had paid the fine would have their money refunded.

“When we were told what had happened, we looked into the booking around the parking for the event and found that we had made an admin error when processing this particular parking bay suspension," he said.

“We’re sorry for any inconvenience caused by this and take the error firmly on our shoulders."

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