Traffic warden couldn't tell the time
A TRAFFIC warden gave parking fines to innocent motorists – because he did not know how to tell the time.
The bungling parking attendant had to use a calculator to work out the expiry time on tickets displayed in motorists' windscreens.
But with calculators working in decimals rather than minutes and hours, the ticket-happy warden had his book out before realising his maths was letting him down.
One of his victims was IT manager Dave Alsop, who tried his best to show the warden the errors of his arithmetic ways. But to no avail.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
The 29-year-old from Torbay had parked in the Terrace car park close to Torquay harbour and paid £1.20p for 75 minutes. His ticket was issued at 2.49pm and would have covered him until 4.04pm.
But when he returned at 3.41pm, he discovered he had been given a £50 parking fine.
He found the traffic warden nearby and asked him why he had been booked when his ticket clearly showed he had time remaining.
The warden disagreed and tried to prove his point using a calculator.
He tapped in 14.49 and added 0.75 to produce a total of 15.24, which he claimed meant Mr Alsop's ticket expired at 3.24pm – 17 minutes before he returned to his car.
Mr Alsop said: “I tried to explain to the warden but he didn't have a clue. He thought he was doing things correctly. He just carried on doing other cars parked there.”
The warden insisted he was right and issued fines to two other unsuspecting motorists.
Mr Alsop, who works for Pavey Insurance brokers in Torquay's Abbey Road, appealed, had his fine waived and received an apology from Torbay Council.
The bizarre incident happened last Friday.
A council spokesman said the authority carried out checks and only two other drivers were wrongly ticketed.
She added: “This was an error by the civil enforcement officer, who is new to the job.
“He incorrectly calculated the expiry time when issuing this and two other penalty charge notices, which have all been cancelled without any money having been paid.
“We have written to Mr Alsop to apologise for any inconvenience caused. We have also provided additional training to prevent this happening again.
“Checks have been carried out on all the relevant penalty charge notices issued by new staff, and these three are the only ones affected, all of which were cancelled.
“The civil enforcement officer who made the error was the only one offered the extra training.”
Comments
by Steve, London
Saturday, December 27 2008, 5:31AM
“He couldnt tell the time.........my cat can tell the time. if he cant so something so simple as that he shouldnt be trusted with paper for fear of cutting himself to death with it. what happened to survival of the fittest? should send him to his room at 22:00 and tell him hes not allowed out for 400 mins...lets see what he does then!!”
by Pops, Devon
Friday, July 18 2008, 5:14PM
“UKIP?? Bark, bark!
This warden went to school and even passed some exams, did he? Dear oh dear.”
by Barry, Plymouth
Thursday, July 17 2008, 11:53PM
“philthegreen, I can empathise with this; the idea of can't be bothered to get into the whole wasting time thing.
The thing is you should waste their time and persue it and not let these gastapo ignorant paper pushers get away with their arrogance.”
by Suzannah, Stoke
Thursday, July 17 2008, 11:05PM
“No, I would definitely not listen to UKIP.”
by philthegreen, Mutley
Thursday, July 17 2008, 1:07PM
“At least the guy got an apology. Well done Torquay for that! When I parked perfectly legally within my permit zone but was given a ticket anyway, Plymouth City Council at first refused to cancel the ticket and when they finally did they simply sent me a letter saying that they were "not pursuing the matter". No apology, no acknowledgement that they were completely wrong and had caused me distress and inconvenience. I didn't want to let it go until I received a full apology but just couldn't face the hassle of more having to have more dealings with PCC, so I let it go.”
by Steve, Plymouth
Thursday, July 17 2008, 12:40PM
“How does Mickey Mouse tell the time? With a Torbay Traffic Warden Watch!”
by Anne Palmer, West Midlands
Thursday, July 17 2008, 11:30AM
“"A TRAFFIC warden gave parking fines to innocent motorists ¿ because he did not know how to tell the time."
Should have asked a Policeman,”
by Martin, Plymouth
Thursday, July 17 2008, 9:09AM
“What a disgrace. The council should be ashamed of themselves what a joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SORT IT OUT”
by Suzannah, Stoke
Thursday, July 17 2008, 9:04AM
“Yes Bengie/Phil, I think we have got the point.”
by TESS NASH, HELSTON, CORNWALL
Thursday, July 17 2008, 6:10AM
“Indeed - it is the lunatics running the asylum, is it not?]
NOW will you listen to the UKIP?”