BARNET: TfL backtrack over parking fines (From This Is Local London)

BARNET: TfL backtrack over parking fines

2:40pm Wednesday 30th July 2008 in

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Transport for London has refunded more than £20,000 to motorists after it emerged that it had wrongly issued hundreds of fines on a red route in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

TfL, which is responsible for managing red routes, backtracked after the Hampstead Garden Suburb Residents' Association (HGSRA) dug up evidence that it had put its red lines in the wrong place.

The lines, in Hill Rise, were invalid because they encroached on a part of the road managed by Barnet Council. TfL stopped issuing tickets in January after this was exposed by Gary Shaw, of the HGRSA, but only agreed to refund the fines this week.

Mr Shaw said: "I'm really pleased for all the people who've got their money back and we're delighted to have been integral to that."

Mr Shaw discovered that the lines were in the wrong place while investigating a loading bay in the nearby Market Place, which has also been a source of contention because it is not clearly marked and has also earned TfL thousands of pounds.

He added: "We will now press on with trying to recover money for the people who fell foul of the confusingly signed Market Place loading bays.

"The story there is different but the effects are just as unjust as in the Hill Rise case."

A spokesman for TfL said: "A review of Hill Rise established that the location is not part of the Transport for London Road Network.

"As a result TfL has refunded all Penalty Charge Notices that have been issued by us at this location as this loading bay falls under the jurisdiction of London Borough of Barnet."

"We have contacted all those who have been given a Penalty Charge Notice in error and refunded their money."

Anyone who would like more information about the red route in Hill Rise or the loading bay in the Market Place should visit the HGSRA website at hgs.org.uk