A furious motorist has accused a council of painting a disabled bay around his car – before fining him £650 for parking in it.
Paul Cooper left his BMW in a residents’ bay near his home in Merton, south-west London, on September 18.
But when he returned on October 6, the 42-year-old was shocked to discover his car was then in a disabled bay that had been extended in his absence – and that he’d been stung by five £130 penalty charge notices for leaving it there without a blue badge.
Merton Council insisted it had warned residents about the bay extension and said it ‘cannot be responsible’ for Mr Cooper not ‘reading signs notifying residents of work’.
He accuses Merton Parking Services of damaging the back of his vehicle while its workers extended the disabled bay, something the council denies.
Paul Cooper, from Merton in south-west London, left his BMW in a residents’ bay near his home on September 18. But when he returned on October 6 he discovered it had been painted into a disabled parking bay – and he had been fined £650
Mr Cooper claims he parked in a residents’ bay correctly on September 18, and the work to extend the disabled bay took place in his absence
Merton Council said it had alerted residents to the work to extend the bay and that it ‘cannot be responsible’ for Mr Cooper (pictured) not ‘reading signs notifying residents of work’
Mr Cooper claimed the council confirmed the bay extension took place on September 26, with officials telling him it was impossible to mark a space under the car as the kit used to paint it could not go under the vehicle.
But the 42-year-old branded this ‘utter nonsense’ and claimed it was clear from photographs that a machine had not been used and that someone had ‘leant under’ his BMW to paint the lines by hand.
‘The council say that the paint from the old lines could not be removed without inflicting damage to my vehicle, and the back of my vehicle is completely ruined,’ he told the BBC.
He added that a neighbour had told him the bay was painted while his car was parked there and that it has been ‘unfair’.
‘I’ve lost patience,’ Mr Cooper said in a lengthy post on Facebook. ‘This simply unacceptable.’
Merton Council has since refunded Mr Cooper all but the initial penalty charge notice. But it refutes the accusation that it damaged his car.
A council spokeswoman said: ‘We have fully investigated Mr Cooper’s claim that a disabled parking bay was extended underneath his car while it was parked in a non-disabled bay, and later allegations his car was damaged in the process of new lines being painted.
Mr Cooper also accused council workers of damaging his car to paint lines underneath it – something Merton Council refutes
He claimed the lines of the new parking bay (pictured) were painted by hand
‘Mr Cooper left his car parked in the same spot, in a parallel road to his home, for a number of weeks without visiting it or updating himself on the work to be carried out.
‘Merton Council cannot be held responsible for him not reading signs notifying residents of the work, and efforts were made to get in contact with him during the weeks his car was parked.
‘Despite Mr Cooper’s admitted knowledge and understanding of the PCN appeals process, he made the decision to pay the fines issued, which is a legal admission the contraventions occurred.
‘However, at our discretion, we have decided to refund all but the initial PCN.’
