Three words to beat a private parking ticket are revealed by retired judge – as fines hit record 14million
Thousands of motorists across Britain know the feeling of thinking they've been unfairly handed a parking fine.
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The unwelcome sight of a yellow sticker on your windscreen is always enough to ruin any motorist's day.
But Stephen Gold, a retired judge, has revealed the three words that can help you beat a private parking ticket.
Speaking to the MailOnline, he said: "Getting a ticket after parking in a private car park does not mean you have committed any offence.
"It won't lead to a criminal conviction, whether or not you pay it.
"You can challenge a ticket that has been wrongly issued, and the challenge could take you to the county court, where the park operator would have to sue you for non-payment to have any hope of getting you to pay up."
THE THREE WORDS
The judge told the paper that a key defence against tickets is: "I knew nothing".
This is a defence that counts on the you being able to prove that parking conditions were not properly indicated.
The operator would have to prove the conditions of parking were displayed on one or more notices that a reasonable motorist would have seen.
So if you only discovered the terms of parking upon returning - perhaps due to signs being inconspicuous or absent - the defence would hold.
It is always best to take photographs of the signs and their location within the car park if you want to use this defence.
The operator will likely try to rely on pictures of the signs within the car park - but these might not show exactly where they are.
APPEALS PROCESS
It comes as more and more car parks use number plate capturing cameras to send out tickets.
Sometimes this will result in a ticket being placed on your windscreen, but often these days a letter will be sent in the post.
If you wish to appeal a ticket, your first action should be to go to the car park operator.
An independent appeal would be the next step, and a final point would be going to a county court.
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