Worthing woman's anger after break-down parking ticket

When Onay Faiz's car broke-down in front of the South Street level crossing in Tarring, she thought she had taken every precaution to notify pedestrians, other motorists and particularly any civil enforcement officers (CEO) that the vehicle could not be moved.

Onay, said: "I had dropped my daughter off to pre-school in Tarring, just after 9am and as I waited at the level crossing barriers suddenly my car stopped turning over.

"My priority was to get the car moved off the road and I was lucky some kind people who were operating a refuse lorry came to help me move the car over to the pavement.

"I then put my hazard warning lights on plus stood a red warning triangle at the rear of the car and finally I wrote a note which said I had broken down and had gone to get help."

Parking ticket

Onay returned to her car a couple of hours later after trying to get a battery booster and a tow rope, to find she had been given a parking ticket.

She added: "I couldn't believe it.

"Shopkeepers came outside to tell me they had seen the warden ticketing my car and despite them pleading with him not to issue a ticket because the car had actually broken down, he didn't listen.

"I am disappointed more than anything.

"It is a complete waste of time and now I will have to write an appeal letter explaining what I had written on the note in my windscreen."

Car unattended

Gary Webb, from NSL, Worthing Council's on-street parking company, said there should be no reason for an appeal to be unsuccessful.

He said: "The vehicle was unattended during our observation time and the driver did not return before the penalty charge notice was issued.

"If the driver had been present we would have advised them to stay with the vehicle, but would not have issued a penalty."

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