Couple fined hundreds of pounds after permit delay

A Chiswick couple who received parking fines totalling over £770 have received the welcome news that the Penalty Charge Notices have been withdrawn.

They thanked their local Councillor John Todd who had made representations on their behalf after describing their treatment as 'atrocious'.

The couple had moved house in July from one area of Chiswick to another and submitted an application for the residents' permit for Alwyn Avenue. They parked in the off-street driveway at their new home for over two weeks. They then went to France for a two-week holiday, taking their car, and returned on August 11th.

"We returned from France to find that our access to our parking driveway was blocked by roadworks carried out by Hounslow Highways and, contrary to our expectations we had not received our parking permit in the post", they said.

They parked their car on the street in Alwyn Avenue and nearby Sharon Road without a permit and received seven parking tickets. The car was out of London for some of the time or the number of PCNs might have been higher. They sent numerous emails requesting for an update on their permit application and informing Hounslow Council of the blocked driveway starting from 12th August but it wasn't until 10th September that Hounslow Highways finished repairing the pavement.

They finally received their resident's parking permit on September 19th after submitting a second application and they received a refund for the unexpired part of their permit from their previous home - which they say proves that the Council had received their application from July 25th. They said they were told that their original application had been "lost" - a few days before the contract went out to Serco.

Their initial appeal to the Council was rejected and they were told that they would have to appeal each one individually.

November 18, 2013