Council goes to court over woman’s pile of unpaid tickets
Aberdeen driver faces £18,000 bill for parking
By Calum Ross and Alistair Beaton
Published: 02/06/2010
Aberdeen City Council will go to court today to try to recover more than £18,000 in parking fines issued to a north-east motorist.
The local authority is taking legal action against Claire Williams – a 27-year-old assistant at a city law firm – after she ignored dozens of parking tickets.
She had a pile of the £60 penalty notices inside her black Volkswagen Beetle as it was parked in North Silver Street, and admitted there were many more in her office.
The council will launch an action against her at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, just two days after agreeing a raft of strict new measures to crack down on rogue parkers. The council has the power to impound and destroy persistent offenders’ cars – but a spokesman declined last night to say if that would be considered in this case.
Council leader John Stewart said: “I think once someone reaches a particular level of disregard for the rules, I don’t think it is disproportionate to have these sanctions. I certainly think (taking Ms Williams to court) is the right action to take. We should be pursuing people to the maximum, particularly when they have substantial sums like that.” Ms Williams works as an assistant at Lindsay and Kirk solicitors and estate agents in Huntly Street and lives at Pitmedden.
She said yesterday: “I cannot afford parking. I cannot afford anything.
“I have some debt problems and, to be totally honest, parking fines were not at the front of my mind.
“I used to live in Aberdeen and I had a parking permit but I moved to Pitmedden and couldn’t use it any more. I have kept just about all of the tickets and have photocopies of them. I have almost all of them at my office.
“I have paid some of them and I have kept the paperwork – I understood it was about £18,000 of fines.”
Ms Williams, who is originally from Aberdeen, added she had been in contact with the council and planned to pay the fines. Last night, her home was deserted, with no black Beetle in the drive.
Neighbours at Pitmedden’s Croftland said they were astonished by the number of parking fines involved.
One man said: “It’s outrageous. I believe she works with a legal firm, and that makes it even worse.”
Another neighbour said: “I have seen her coming and going in her Beetle, but only know her to say ‘Hello’ to. It seems incredible anyone could build up that amount in unpaid parking fees.
“Maybe she will have to sell her car – but that wouldn’t be enough to pay it back.”
It was revealed earlier this year that the local authority is due more than £2million in unpaid fines from hundreds of motorists, with one Aberdeen driver alone racking up 300 parking tickets.
Opposition Labour councillor Willie Young said people would be “horrified” by the level of outstanding fines. “It is absolutely ridiculous for one person to have so many tickets,” he said.
“The ordinary citizens of Aberdeen who pay to park their cars will be horrified so many tickets have been issued to this person. They will also question why the city council has allowed such a situation to develop without, it would appear, anything being done about it.”
Councillors also agreed on Monday that the £60 fines should be increased to £80, with the introduction of the new charge dependent on the publication of revised Scottish Government guidelines.
In Aberdeen, illegal parkers currently face a £60 fine, which can be reduced to £30 if it is paid within two weeks, but rises to £90 if it is has not been paid within 63 days.