'I spent months fighting £25 parking penalty'

BBC News

4 days ago

A man has said he spent months fighting and eventually winning an appeal against a £25 charge after parking outside his home. Mark Toplass has a brain injury, which causes memory loss and he relies on reminders about everyday activities like bills and car payments.The 55-year-old received the penalty in February when his parking permit, which allows him to park for free outside his home in The Meadows in Nottingham, had expired.After numerous demands from Nottingham City Council for payment, Mr Toplass later discovered that the authority's policy states it will send a reminder to residents ahead of their permit expiring - which he said he did not receive.
Mr Toplass, who has had two brain injuries - his first a haemorrhage aged 38 - said: "My memory is shocking so I have reminders set up for everything. I've had to adapt my life."This should've been dealt with at the very first appeal. Instead, they kept telling me the fine would double if I didn't pay, which is when it got stressful."I've had to spend hours upon hours on this, just to show that they're not following their own procedures."Mr Toplass said the council told him it only reminded residents to renew their permits as a matter of courtesy.After digging into the issue, the former Army veteran - who used to work in local government - discovered the part of the council's policy, which states that "reminders will be issued to permanent residents... via email" before a permit expires.The charge was then cancelled in May after his second appeal.
Since then, Mr Toplass has filed an official complaint and a freedom of information (FOI) request in a bid to find out how many other residents have been affected.He said: "My grievance now is how many other people in Nottingham are in the same boat?"In this day and age, we're all tight on money and don't want to be paying for something that isn't our fault."Mr Toplass has now cancelled his parking permit as he "doesn't want to go through the rigmarole", and will instead park on his own driveway, which he previously left empty so local children could play football on it.The city council said its policy was to send reminder letters to residents with virtual parking permits, but added the responsibility for renewal remained with the permit holder.A council spokesperson said they were sorry to hear about the difficulties Mr Toplass had experienced.The council has not told the BBC why the charge was cancelled.The spokesperson added: "We understand that situations like this can be challenging, particularly for residents with additional needs, and we aim to take a fair and proportionate approach to enforcement. "Anyone who receives a penalty notice can appeal, and all appeals are reviewed on a case-by-case basis, taking individual circumstances into account."