OAP driver vows not to park in Lisburn again

Joan Simpson from Beanstown Road now parks at the free Bentrim Road car park and walks nearly a mile into the city centre after she was issued with what she described as an 'unfair' parking notice three months ago.

She was given a 30 penalty fine when she parked at Antrim Street car park on April 13, at a time when she claims both pay and display machines were not working.

She placed a note on her windscreen to explain why she could not display a ticket and even told a parking attendant about her predicament. Despite those efforts she was still given a ticket and fined.

The incident occurred on Tuesday April 13 when Joan parked at the Antrim Street car park at 9.50am. She went to the machine to pay and found the first parking machine had an 'out of order' sign on it. She then went to another where several people were trying to obtain tickets but the machine wouldn't take the money.

"All the coins were falling straight through the machine," said Joan. "There were at least six people waiting in the queue and the machine was obviously defective.

"We discussed amongst ourselves what we could do and decided that the only thing was to leave a note on the dashboard.

"I left the car park at 10am and I met a parking attendant to explain what had happened. Her reply was 'I will have a wee look.'

"I returned to the car park at 11.40am to find a ticket on my windscreen. The note on my dashboard had been disregarded. What else could I have possibly done?"

Joan appealed the fine but it was rejected.

"I paid the fine but I am really angry at the way I was treated," said Joan. "What else could I have done?"

In a letter to Joan, the Roads Service stated that 'after careful consideration of the circumstances we have found no grounds for the cancellation of the charge.'

It continued: "The PCN was correctly issued. You did not display a valid Pay and Display ticket in accordance with the Parking Regulations. Please note there are two Pay and Display machines in Antrim Street and our records show both machines were in working order that day."

A spokesperson for the Roads Service said: "If all machines are not working within a car park, then customers may reasonably park free of charge. All pay and display machines display a Faults and Enquiries telephone contact number which customers may use to report faults if they are in any doubt.

"When a Traffic Attendant enters a pay and display car park they will first check that the machines are operational before they start enforcement for non payment. If no machines are working in the car park, then customers will not be expected to display a ticket.

"Any customer who believes they have unfairly received a penalty charge notice when they were unable to purchase a pay and display ticket due to machines being out of order may challenge the PCN as detailed on its reverse. In these cases a database is used to confirm the machine's operational status."

[email protected]