Driver slams ‘petty’ council for insisting he pays £25 fine for inputting ‘O’ instead of ZERO

Scott Wood labelled a council ‘petty’ after realising his mistake of putting a zero instead of the letter ‘O’ in a payment text message

A driver has said he is ‘furious’ at being fined £25 – for putting a ‘O’ instead of a ‘0’ when entering his car registration top buy a car park ticket.

Scott Wood labelled a council ‘petty’ after realising his mistake of putting a zero instead of the letter ‘O’ in a payment text message for a two-hour stay.

The ticket machine had broken and when he asked a nearby traffic warden the official told him to pay the £2.40 for his parking via text.

But when the 29-year-old sales rep arrived back at his car in Goole, East Yorkshire, he found a £25 fine slapped to his windscreen.

Married father-of-three Mr Wood, from Driffield, East Yorkshire, said: ‘It’s just so petty, it really is. £25 is £25 and I will pay it – but it’s the principle that they think they can get away with it.’

Mr Wood says he will fight the appeal which will see the price of the fine hiked up to £50 after parking his car in the town centre on July 27.

In a letter to Mr Wood from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council following his appeal, it said he had breached parking codes by not inputting his correct registration details

He said: ‘It’s just so ridiculous. The best part of the situation is that the traffic warden who told me to text the number to order the ticket, saw me get out of my car and walk to the machine.

‘He then told me to text the number, but when I spoke to him after he had issued the ticket – he told me nothing had come through to his machine telling him I had paid. He then told me to appeal it.’

Mr Wood accidentally put a zero instead of the letter ‘O’ in the text (mocked up photo)

In a letter to Mr Wood from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council after his appeal, it said he had breached parking codes by not inputting his correct registration details.

It read: ‘From the information you have submitted there are no compelling/equitable grounds to exercise my power of discretion to cancel this PCN at this time.

‘The reason for this is, from reviewing your evidence, the VRM you had entered on MiPermit was M***0** (with a zero) and not M***O**.’

Mr Wood said: ‘It is just well and truly unbelievable – I can’t believe that they would be so petty.

‘They obviously know it is a mistake that is why they have put ‘with a zero’ in the box. It should be overturned.’

An East Riding of Yorkshire Council spokesman has been contacted for comment.



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