Motorist gets £50 parking ticket in Blackburn - for being 38 seconds late (From Blackburn Citizen)
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Motorist gets £50 parking ticket in Blackburn - for being 38 seconds late
8:56am Friday 15th March 2013 in News
By Dan Clough, Reporter
Adam Lorgat with his ticket
A MOTORIST was left fuming after he received a £50 parking fine for being just 38 seconds late - a charge of £1.32 per second.
Adam Lorgat, 31, came back to his Volkswagen Golf in Church Street, Blackburn, to find the ticket on his windscreen.
He had taken his disabled mother shopping in the market and had paid 30p to park.
His ticket expired at 4.28pm and he was stunned to discover the fine had already been given and the warden was nowhere to be seen.
Mr Lorgat, who owns Enzio Designs in Copy Nook, Blackburn, said: “I had just taken my mum to do her shopping in the market. She is disabled so it is limited how far she can walk.
I came out and found the ticket on my windscreen. I must have just missed the warden.
“For him to get that ticket printed and on my windscreen and disappear by the time I came out he must have been waiting.”
Mr Lorgat said his mother always insisted on using the market, but the charge meant he no longer intended to shop in the town centre.
He wrote a letter of objection to the fine, issued by Blackburn with Darwen Council, which said: “This seems very harsh to me.
“I was disappointed to see the ticket and when I checked my watch it was just seconds over my allocated time.”
The council dismissed his appeal, informing him there were no grounds for a cancellation of the ticket as it had run out.
Shear Brow councillor Suleman Khonat said he would fight the parking charge on Mr Lorgat’s behalf.
He said: “It seems excessive to me. If you go by the book then yes, he has gone against the ticket.
“But over the past few years we have done a lot of work to get people to use the market.
“We need to encourage people to come to the town centre, not force them away because of ridiculous parking enforcement.”
Blackburn with Darwen Council executive member for Regeneration, Coun Dave Harling, said: “Mr Lorgat was correctly issued with this fine.
“As the informal challenge has been rejected, he currently has two options, either make the payment at a reduced rate or go forward with a formal appeal.”
Comments(28)
woolywords
says...
9:40am Fri 15 Mar 13
This is why I deliberately set my watch five minutes faster than the real time since no woman likes to be kept waiting.
Take it on the chin and pay up.
burner
says...
9:43am Fri 15 Mar 13
.
Congratulations, Dave Harling, yet another motorist deterred, You have served us well, my son. Soon, your dream of a car-free town centre will become your own personal reality. Not long now !
scottlad
says...
10:20am Fri 15 Mar 13
Gammon Flap
says...
11:22am Fri 15 Mar 13
Or would you complain to British Rail that their efficient trains caused you to be late home?
Had the guy involved been early and still been ticketed then it would have been an issue - he was late, got a ticket so where is the story?
Must be a massively slow news day.
Harrold Monk
says...
11:24am Fri 15 Mar 13
darwenTower
says...
11:33am Fri 15 Mar 13
"Here's an analogy for you..."
Analogies are great aren't they?
Here's one for you,
The warden was considering writing a ticket as the time was just up but he'd decided to give it a minute or so.
The guy arrived back at his car 38 seconds late and being a decent human being the warden showed him some leniency and they both wished each other a good day and went on their way.
NevaStop
says...
11:48am Fri 15 Mar 13
I guess we need Robin Hood back!
Gammon Flap
says...
11:58am Fri 15 Mar 13
darwenTower wrote:An absolutely faultless analogy except for one glaring error - when this guy gets back to his car, in his own words, the warden is nowhere to be seen? Now then, did he disappear into a puff of smoke? Or perhaps he teleported to his next ticketing mission? Or more likely the guy actually turned back up to his car 5 or 10 minutes late to find out that he had been ticketed and decided that it must be the warden's fault?
Gammon flap said,
"Here's an analogy for you..."
Analogies are great aren't they?
Here's one for you,
The warden was considering writing a ticket as the time was just up but he'd decided to give it a minute or so.
The guy arrived back at his car 38 seconds late and being a decent human being the warden showed him some leniency and they both wished each other a good day and went on their way.
scottlad
says...
12:02pm Fri 15 Mar 13
Harrold Monk
says...
12:14pm Fri 15 Mar 13
drunken donut
says...
12:18pm Fri 15 Mar 13
scottlad wrote:I too left Blackburn when I could see what it was becoming, soon they will be bemoaning the fact that no one shops there anymore, I wonder why?
So much bitterness and hate in Blackburn reading the above comments and other comments on articles. It’s really sad to see, you seem to have no compassion at all, If it was you that got a ticket I don’t think you would sitting back saying 'Ahh fair do's'. I left Blackburn years ago, I am so glad, the whole town is a dark horrible place. The guy was slightly late coming back from shopping, wow call Team America…
scottlad
says...
1:01pm Fri 15 Mar 13
drunken donut wrote:Yeah, even when I have to make the painful visit a few times a year, it is very clear that nobody is happy in Blackburn unless they are moaning about something, critisising somthing or someone or just generally being negative.
scottlad wrote: So much bitterness and hate in Blackburn reading the above comments and other comments on articles. It’s really sad to see, you seem to have no compassion at all, If it was you that got a ticket I don’t think you would sitting back saying 'Ahh fair do's'. I left Blackburn years ago, I am so glad, the whole town is a dark horrible place. The guy was slightly late coming back from shopping, wow call Team America…I too left Blackburn when I could see what it was becoming, soon they will be bemoaning the fact that no one shops there anymore, I wonder why?
ghanto
says...
2:10pm Fri 15 Mar 13
10p - 20p more would be far better then £50.00 fine.
As it said people saves pennies land up lossing pounds lad.
Ah yes : if you mum is disabled then apply for A BADGE
Major Tom
says...
2:37pm Fri 15 Mar 13
real betis hotpot
says...
6:29pm Fri 15 Mar 13
Maybe if he had been aware that the charge was £1.32 a second he would have hurried back to his car with time to spare, I know I would have.
M.DANNY
says...
7:25pm Fri 15 Mar 13
I have worked in Leeds Manchester and Preston finding a parking space is a nightmare in these cities plus parking charges are a rip off.
I am sorry for Mr Lorgat and his disabled mum but rules are rules you were 38 second late anyway you look like a rich kid who can afford the £50 parking ticket.
Black Car Guy.
says...
7:28pm Fri 15 Mar 13
2 for 5p
says...
10:22pm Fri 15 Mar 13
If your guilty just pay it. P
woolywords
says...
10:58pm Fri 15 Mar 13
I wish to appeal against the parking tickets that I gained on my car for being just 38 hours late. My hospital appointment turned into an overnight stay and I was unable to get back to my car.
When I was finally released, I spent the best part of two hours looking for it, as your wardens had been sticking tickets on it every 30 seconds and this made it impossible to spot. Then another man from the council turned up and gave another penalty notice, as he considered my 4561 parking notices constituted fly-tipping! This really is too much for my poor heart to bear, let alone my wallet, for the £228000 in parking fines.
If you could see your way to reducing this amount, I promise to never shop in Lancashire, ever again.
Yours,
Buster R. Terry.
GrindletonBob
says...
11:09pm Fri 15 Mar 13
Gammon Flap wrote:I would love to be able to complain to British Rail but sadly they're no more since the Tories got rid in the mid 90's. The railways around the north west are now run by the Dutch state railway, aka Abellio as it says in large letters under every Northern logo! Abellio is the international arm of the Dutch government rail operator Nederlandse Spoorwegen in case you ever get a pub quiz question asking who runs the trains in Blackburn! The answer is "The Dutch"!
Here's an analogy for you...If you were slightly late for a train, would you expect it to wait for you? No you would accept that it was your own fault, you knew the time that you had to be there and you failed to make it.
Or would you complain to British Rail that their efficient trains caused you to be late home?
Had the guy involved been early and still been ticketed then it would have been an issue - he was late, got a ticket so where is the story?
Must be a massively slow news day.
mys
says...
10:33am Sat 16 Mar 13
KhanZe
says...
10:43pm Sun 17 Mar 13
rio5
says...
2:02pm Mon 18 Mar 13
why the heck did you only pay £0.30p
10p - 20p more would be far better then £50.00 fine.
As it said people saves pennies land up lossing pounds lad.
Ah yes : if you mum is disabled then apply for A BADGE
Have some compassion towards humanity. He were "38 Seconds Late". I agree with Mr Lorgat, parking wardens dish out penalties far too easily. They are supposed to stay for around 5 minutes before applying the ticket as i have heard this from a warden himself.
As for his mother applying for a badge, If she were driving the car it can be applicable. However, as it were Mr Lorgat "DRIVING HIS MOTHER" im sure this could be counted as an illegal act if he applied the badge to his car.
julespent
says...
9:58pm Mon 18 Mar 13
darwen tower i think i prefer your analogy, pity other people dont think that way perhaps the world we live in would be a better place.
sickofthisrubbish
says...
6:11am Wed 20 Mar 13
but to be fair i cant honestly say i don't know why anyone would go down Blackburn center anymore?.
You can get everything you need at the supermarkets?????.
maybe he will learn something from this, doubt it though some people are just born stupid,.
big bird
says...
10:30pm Tue 26 Mar 13
rio5 wrote:The disabled person is enitled to be the passenger. As long as they are actually using the car, as either passenger or driver, it's legal.
ghanto says...
why the heck did you only pay £0.30p
10p - 20p more would be far better then £50.00 fine.
As it said people saves pennies land up lossing pounds lad.
Ah yes : if you mum is disabled then apply for A BADGE
Have some compassion towards humanity. He were "38 Seconds Late". I agree with Mr Lorgat, parking wardens dish out penalties far too easily. They are supposed to stay for around 5 minutes before applying the ticket as i have heard this from a warden himself.
As for his mother applying for a badge, If she were driving the car it can be applicable. However, as it were Mr Lorgat "DRIVING HIS MOTHER" im sure this could be counted as an illegal act if he applied the badge to his car.
tajmahalovertheoldmarket
says...
10:10pm Sat 30 Mar 13
I_Love_Mommy says...
9:20am Fri 15 Mar 13