AD » Unbelievable

PC correctness now arrives at traffic lights…..

admin — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:32:12 +0000

Everyone know the ‘green man’ at pedestrian crossings, but that is all set to change. Reported on the telegraph website, Lincolnshire County Council now have a ‘green figure’ and have made changes to their signs to tell us.

Why the need for change, how can this be an effective use of councils time and our money. Are there really many that are offended by the original sign?

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Crazy council paints double yellow lines of less than half a metre!

admin — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:18:50 +0000

A council has painted what is believed to be Britain’s shortest ever set of double yellow lines – measuring just 17 inches. The lines have been daubed on the gap between a new permit parking area for residents and a two hour waiting zone in Stafford Street, Norwich, Norfolk. James Little, 56, who is landlord of the Alexandra Tavern in the street, said he was shocked to see the lines had appeared opposite his pub last week. He said: ‘I thought the country was skint – but it appears that people can still spend money on daft things like this. ‘There just doesn’t seem any point in having such short lines. You would have to park a toy car on there to get a ticket. ‘It has caused a bit of mirth in the pub. Everyone thinks it is hilarious and we are looking forward to seeing if a traffic warden comes down here to monitor it.’ More

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Motorist gets ticket overturned after warden blunder!

admin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:41:57 +0000

A motorist has won his appeal against a parking ticket after the traffic warden claimed he had visited two towns 28 miles apart in 35 seconds. Leighton Leyton-Purrier, 53, obtained official logs which appeared to show that the warden had travelled between the Shropshire towns of Shrewsbury and Ludlow faster than a jet. Mr Leyton-Purrier, who got the ticket in Ludlow, took the case to an independent tribunal, claiming the suspect statistics undermined the council’s credibility, and the tribunal ruled in his favour. He said he believed the council had attempted to find a way to make the penalty stand despite the bizarre statistics. Mr Leyton-Purrier, a publisher who lives in Ludlow, said: “I parked my car but moved it for more than two hours when I went home. “When I came back later in the afternoon the same space was available and so I parked in it. Later, I found I had a parking ticket. More

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High cost of replacement car keys!

admin — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:21:34 +0000

Motorists who have lost their car keys may find it expensive to get a replacement, a new poll by Which? magazine has found. Over £200 may be required to replace lost keys, according to the survey. The Mercedes-Benz S-class topped the list of vehicles with the most costly replacement keys, at £235, followed by the Mercedes-Benz C-class, at £231. More

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Police order drunk motorist to drive to station for breath test!

admin — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 20:39:03 +0000

A motorist was pulled over by the police for drink-driving – and then told to drive himself to the station for a breath test. Jon Herron, 33, went to the pub for a couple of pints after work and was stopped in his Land Rover on his way home, a court heard yesterday. But police officers had run out of the disposable straws used in breathalysers, and so were unable to test him by the roadside. Instead they asked him to continue slowly to the police station as they followed behind. The route took him over three junctions, including two roundabouts. When Herron, a marine engineer, was tested at the station in Lymington, Hampshire, his blood-alcohol reading was 105, which is 25 over the legal limit, Southampton Magistrates’ Court heard. More

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Council to refund £1M parking fines after using wrong camera!

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 21:58:26 +0000

Motorists could be in line for a £1million refund of parking fines after council bosses used the ‘wrong sort of camera’. The CCTV Smart car cameras had not been declared an ‘approved device’ by the Department of Transport. As a result thousands of tickets issued by Richmond Council, in south London, could be ruled invalid. The surveillance cars have since been taken off the streets and Lord True, leader of Richmond Council, has now indicated that all affected drivers could be due refunds. He promised a full investigation after it was claimed cameras on the council’s two CCTV cars were not correctly certified and fines had been issued illegally since 2009. Last year alone, the council issued 12,305 tickets, raising more than £573,000. A council spokesman said: ‘We are taking advice and are considering the question [of refunding motorists].’ More

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39 penalty points and still driving!

admin — Thu, 05 May 2011 22:17:00 +0000

A Swindon motorist has 39 penalty points on his or her licence – the most in Great Britain – but not been banned. A Freedom of Information request to the DVLA showed 638 drivers in Bristol, Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and Gloucestershire have 12 or more points. Twelve points usually means a temporary ban for a driver unless they can prove it would cause exceptional hardship. A court decides if a driver is banned and the Magistrates’ Association agreed the Swindon case needs investigating. The DVLA’s response to the Freedom of Information (FOI), from BBC West, did not say which offences the penalty points related to and gave no further information about the driver from Swindon. It explained that although it compiles the figures on court cases involving driving offences it has no influence on verdicts. More

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Maniac drives underneath 18 wheeler at 40mph!

admin — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 21:53:47 +0000

This is the terrifying moment a reckless motorist risks his life by driving underneath – a moving lorry. The daredevil driver shows no regard for his fellow motorists by calmly manoeuvring his Mazda MX-5 beneath the 18-wheel juggernaut in a scene similar to a stunt movie. But this wasn’t a clip from the latest Fast and Furious flick but a jaw-dropping moment captured on camera by shocked motorist Ben Ellis. The student was taking part in a cruise with other MX-5 enthusiasts in Florida when the driver of a black model decided to show off his irresponsible driving skills on the 40mph road. After pulling off the move, he calmly drives the Japanese convertible with his elbow on the door frame – to the shock of his fellow cruisers.

More

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Disabled guy reattaching false leg given parking ticket!

admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 21:10:22 +0000

A disabled man says he was given a parking ticket after he pulled his car over into a loading bay because his false leg had fallen off. Lee Scarrott received the £70 fine after he made an emergency stop in the space in Nottingham city centre as he tried to find a missing piece of his prosthetic limb. The 47-year-old, who lost his right leg in a motorbike accident in 2007, appealed against the ticket and was initially turned down by Nottingham City Council, but the authority eventually dropped the charge. Mr Scarrott, from Nottingham, told the Nottingham Post he drove his specially adapted car into the city centre on December 3 last year and parked legally in a disabled bay in St Peter’s Gate before carrying out some errands. He said that, on his way back to the car, the suction pin which keeps his prosthetic limb attached to his body began to come loose and it was only as he drove away that he realised. After driving a short distance, his false leg fell off and he pulled over into a loading bay in Victoria Street. More

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Car thief smashes through level crossing moments before train passes!

admin — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:07:01 +0000

These incredible pictures show a car thief driving through the barriers of a level crossing while on the run from police just seconds before a high-speed train thunders past. More

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Mad driver does U-Turn on motorway!

admin — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:21:07 +0000

INCREDIBLE footage from one of the country’s new motorways graphically illustrates the disaster that can arise when drivers ignore the rules. Traffic camera stills show a dark-coloured estate car pull over to the hard shoulder of the Dublin to Limerick M7 motorway just before half-past seven in the morning. As two cars approach from behind, the driver of the estate begins an illegal U-turn, which puts the car directly in the path of oncoming traffic. Only evasive action from one of the other drivers prevents what would have been a major collision. More & Pictures

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Wrong way driver crashes head on into lorry!

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:57:17 +0000

It must have been when she rounded the bend on the slip road that it dawned on the driver of this little car that she was going in the wrong direction. Thundering up the ramp straight towards her was a huge articulated lorry. What happened next was captured in these startling images taken from the GPS camera system in the cab of a second lorry that was still on the main carriageway. The woman driver of the Vauxhall Corsa is seen joining the A90 in Scotland – via the exit slip road. She swerves to avoid the lorry on the exit ramp and ends up heading straight into the path of the one carrying the Roadhawk GPS camera. The Corsa driver then turns away and strikes the first lorry, wrecking her car. But the collision causes the huge juggernaut to lose balance, topple over and scarily jackknife across the busy road before coming to a halt in shrubbery, on its side. An eerie silence follows. Amazingly, no one was injured when the incident took place last Tuesday outside Aberdeen. More

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Parking permit surcharge to force diesel cars off the roads!

admin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:32:16 +0000

Owners of diesel cars face higher charges for annual parking permits in major cities amid growing concern over their effect on air quality. Councils have begun to raise the cost for the vehicles, which were previously considered more environmentally friendly because of lower carbon emissions. A motorist with a typical family diesel faces paying more than £150 a year to park outside his or her home. There is growing concern in Whitehall over the green credentials of diesel vehicles, which are increasingly popular. According to a paper prepared for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs this month, they emit too many small polluting particles which damage local air quality, a particular problem in residential areas with heavy traffic. The report said the Government should encourage “small, modern petrol vehicles, petrol hybrids and electric vehicles in urban areas in place of diesel vehicles”. More

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Teens quoted £24,000 and £32,000 to insure their cars!

admin — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:47:23 +0000

When Daniel Grey was told it would cost £24,000 to insure his 12-year-old Volvo, he assumed it was the highest quote in the country. But stunned teenager Jake Redshaw’s dream of driving has now also stalled, after he was quoted more than £32,000 to cover his second-hand hatchback. Both quotes came from the AA. Jake, 17, bought a six-year-old Vauxhall Corsa for £3,000 after he passed his test earlier this month. The student, from Salford, Greater Manchester, said he expected online insurance quotes to reach a couple of thousand pounds. Instead he received a headline figure of £32,819 from the AA. Jake’s cheapest fully-comprehensive quote was almost £6,000, twice the car’s value. The second most expensive quote was £21,000. Jake is studying IT and works part-time in a warehouse at Salford-based telecoms distributor Nimans. He lives with his parents in Eccles, Greater Manchester. He said: ‘I thought passing my test would be the hardest part about getting my own wheels. ‘It’s not as if I was trying to insure a high-powered sports car. I was gobsmacked.’ More

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Council workers tarmac around parked BMW!

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:50:08 +0000

This parked car failed to stop a council resurfacing a road – as workers simply laid the new Tarmac around it. The driver of the silver BMW ignored signs not to park on the street before contractors were due to work on Blenheim Way in Birmingham, West Midlands. But the bungling workers have since been labelled ‘farcical’ by angry councillors after they carried on regardless. The car, which had no road tax, is now left stranded on an island of old, weathered road surface. And the taxpayer can expect to fork out again for the contractors to finish the job once the car is finally towed away. Councillor Keith Linnecor blasted: ‘This really is a complete and utter farce. ‘I can’t believe we have got a situation where there is a partially covered surface on a road because of a parked car. Birmingham City Councillor Keith Linnecor ‘The car was parked, but when the tax ran out on March 1, it should have been towed away. ‘And if that was not possible then the job should have waited until a time when the whole road could be completed. ‘As it stands another crew are going to have to come out now and finish the job – at a cost to the taxpayer. More
(AD ~ Councils have little more these days, and they waste what little they do have!)

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Many motorists unable to fill up with fuel or fluids!

admin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:02:03 +0000

As a nation we’re highly dependent on our cars, but a staggering 30 per cent of UK drivers admit they don’t even know how to fill up with fuel and windscreen washer fluid. New research also reveals that millions don’t know what the warning lights on their dashboard mean – or even how to check their tyre tread depth. Kärcher, the pressure washer manufacturer, surveyed 2,000 people on their motoring knowledge and concluded that millions are risking their lives on a daily basis by failing to carry out even the most basic of car maintenance checks. “While the majority of us (71 per cent) believe we can capably fill up fuel and windscreen washer fluid, almost 30 per cent of us can’t and only a third of us would know how to charge the battery,” said a Kärcher spokesperson. “About the same number (38 per cent) don’t know how to replace their windscreen wipers and less than half are confident enough to check the tyre tread.” More

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School crossing patrols victims of spending cuts!

admin — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 22:08:33 +0000

School crossing patrols are being axed as local authorities cut back on their road safety budgets. Road safety groups fear that this could reverse the trend which has seen deaths and injuries falling every year since 2003. Their fears were voiced in a report produced by the RAC Foundation and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS). School crossing patrols have either been removed or are under threat in both urban and rural areas. Northamptonshire County Council is considering saving £201,000 by scrapping its service and making all 60 of its lollipop ladies and men redundant, while Suffolk County Council has announced it will lay off 62 staff to save £174,000. Similar plans have been drawn up in Barnsley, Felixtowe, Dorset, and Suffolk. Lambeth in south London and South Tyneside are also considering cutting back on the service. Other authorities understood to be considering the future of their school crossing patrols include Peterborough, Stockton-on-Tees, Stockport and Birmingham. More

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Foreign drivers escape punishment for UK offences!

admin — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:26:20 +0000

Foreign drivers will be able to drink and drive, break the speed limit, jump red lights and escape without punishment because the Government has not signed up to an EU crackdown, it was claimed. This week 25 EU states agreed a pact to make it easier to track down and prosecute drivers breaking the law in another country for fines. Britain and Ireland were the only countries not to sign – although Ireland is expected to join after its post-election disruption. Under the Cross Border Enforcement Directive, foreign drivers would have been prosecuted for offences committed on British roads, the Daily Mirror reported. The directive allows EU states to share information on millions of motorists though an electronic database. Brian Simpson, a Labour Euro MP and chairman of the European Parliament Transport Committee, warned that Britain’s decision to opt out would allow foreign motorists to think they are beyond the law when driving on these shored. More

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‘Sniffer wardens’ out to catch company car drivers smoking!

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:56:05 +0000

Drivers who light cigarettes in company cars are being hunted down by ‘sniffer wardens’ after a council teamed up with police to smoke them out. Tendring District Council and Essex Police are so eager to catch employees having a puff behind the wheel that they’ve set up road blocks across the county. Armed with nothing but a heightened sense of smell, the sharp-nosed enforcers lie in wait, sniffing inside the cars of suspected lawbreakers, and scouring for used ashtrays. Anyone caught smoking in a company car faces a £50 fixed penalty fine or taken to court and issued with a £200 fine and conviction. And if they discover signs that the driver may have been smoking, they can alert the company boss who too may receive a fine up to £2,500. Failure to apply no smoking stickers inside the work vehicle can carry a fine of up to £1,000. Smoking in work cars was banned in 2006 under the Health Act. It made illegal smoking in any vehicle used predominantly for business which more than one person might use. But council chiefs have been blasted for the ‘ridiculously disproportionate clampdown’. More

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Taxi driver banned for wrong shade of colour on his cab!

admin — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:00:24 +0000

A taxi driver has been forced off the road – because his car is the wrong shade of silver. Asif Khan has worked as a taxi driver in Manchester for seven years. But when he decided to swap his private-hire car from a silver Volkswagen Passat to a silver Honda Accord, he hit a snag. The father-of-two was told by Manchester council that his badge could not be renewed because the new car did not meet the town hall’s strict colour code. Bosses have ruled that cabs must be white or silver – and have issued a colour ‘swatch’ showing the exact shades which qualify. The rule was brought in by Manchester council as a safety measure to help crackdown on bogus taxi drivers. But Mr Khan, 31, said there was virtually no difference between his new taxi and the chart of accepted colours. Now he faces having to buy a new car – or pay a huge bill to get his cab re-sprayed. He said: ‘I have been to the council twice and they say it is grey. ‘The only way I can get it passed is by buying a new car or re-spraying it. ‘But it’s practically the same colour as my old car. It says silver in the log book and on the insurance documents. More

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Driver wins 30 hour stand-off with parking warden!

admin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:21:10 +0000

A terrified young care worker barricaded herself inside her car for 30 hours after the vehicle was clamped by an over-zealous warden – despite displaying a valid parking permit. Jessica Davey, 22, became embroiled in a marathon stand-off with a clamper after her Renault Clio was targeted outside her home. Determined nursing home carer Jessica refused to pay a £110 release fee – claiming a parking permit was on her car dashboard – and locked herself away in the vehicle. She refused to leave the driving seat of her cramped car for fear it would be towed away and sparked an incredible 30-hour stand-off. Jessica’s worried pleas for help to the police were ignored and her boyfriend Simon Baker, 23, was even arrested as he tried to free the chained vehicle. Eventually, after more than one full day in her car, Jessica won out after managing to free the clamp wheel herself – but she is fuming about her ordeal. She said yesterday: ‘I couldn’t afford to pay him and I didn’t see why I should so I decided to stay with my car until he took it off so he couldn’t tow it away. More

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Council contractors resurface around parked car!

admin — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 22:56:53 +0000

Council contractors have been branded ‘unbelievable’after asphalting around a parked car. Workmen were due to resurface the Market Street car park in Whitworth last week. But when the arrived they found one driver had ignored signs telling people not to park there. But undeterred they carried on the with the job anyway – and left the patch around the Ford Focus uncovered. Glynn Normoyle was in Whitworth Post Office directly opposite when the work was being carried out. He said: “When I realised they were resurfacing around the parked car, I couldn’t believe it. “The workmen spent a long time on the phone when they first arrived – I suppose they were trying to find out who the car belonged to and what they should do next.” A sign warning drivers not to park went up at 8am on Monday February 14, with workmen arriving two days later. Whitworth mayor, Coun David Chorlton, who owns Market Street plumbing and bathroom business UBS, said: “A few people told me about it when they came in the shop. “They found it highly amusing and I thought they were winding me up, so I went to have a look. More

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Is the A35 the bumpiest road in Britain?

admin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 22:54:15 +0000

HE has driven in some poor countries, but Ian Clarke reckons the stretch of the A35 near his house in Christchurch may qualify as the roughest road he has ever experienced. And to prove it, the exasperated householder collected 20 hubcaps that had become dislodged from their vehicles within a half mile of his bungalow in Lyndhurst Road and arranged them along the hedgerow. “I’ve driven all over Bulgaria and Barbados and I’ve never seen a road in this state. It’s been like it for over a year,” he said. “It was repaired over a year ago in the torrential rain. It’s lucky there have been no fatalities, but there is no excuse for endangering lives. “I have watched numerous cars, lorries and bikes swerve violently to avoid the potholes over many months. The grass verge has been built up into a bit of a mud verge.” Retired Mr Clarke added: “I walk the dogs up and down the road. That’s when I first started noticing all the wheel hubs. I collected 20, then it went down to 14. The council came on Friday and took the rest away, but I found another two on Saturday. It’s given drivers a bit of a smile as they have gone by.” More

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Trucker pulls out one of his teeth while driving!

Police crash up to 238 times parking within their own station!

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 22:53:26 +0000

ACCIDENT-PRONE police drivers have been involved in hundreds of crashes – without even leaving their own car parks. Figures obtained by The Sentinel show officers in Staffordshire and Cheshire reported up to 238 accidents involving vehicles in their police station car parks between April, 2008 and December, 2010. They reveal Staffordshire Police recorded 147 accidents and Cheshire Police dealt with 91 crashes over the same period. The incidents included: A police vehicle crashing into a post causing £2,149 damage; A police vehicle crashing into a wall causing £1,450 damage; A police vehicle hitting a car park height restriction barrier causing £1,069 damage; A police vehicle reversing into a car causing £1,192 damage. The combined estimated damage for the forces is £115,784, though the final figures may be adjusted by insurers. Staffordshire’s £83,902 estimate included injuries or damage to vehicles or property within the car parks, as well as 32 more accidents which involved slips, trips and falls. Now some officers have been told to improve their driving standards. Police station crashes have fallen from 71 in 2007/08 to 50 in 2009/10. A report to Staffordshire Police Authority states: “Accidents within police stations remain an issue. Police divisions have been charged with monitoring driving standards and have been profiling individual officers to improve standards of behaviour and to ensure that training was put in place.” More

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£192 to fill up car in Chelsea!

admin — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:00:55 +0000

Filling the car with a tank of fuel has proved increasingly painful for motorists as VAT, duty and oil value increases have sent forecourt prices through the roof. But one driver demonstrated that he had no such worries by filling up the world’s most petrol-thirsty car at Britain’s most expensive petrol station. The driver took his Bugatti Veyron – which is sold for more than £1m – to the Texaco garage in Chelsea, West London, where petrol is offered at 159.9p a litre. He clocked up a bill of £192 before driving off in the supercar, which can consume a litre every two miles. The astonishing scene came as families were warned there was little prospect of a lifeline on fuel prices – despite repeated pledges from David Cameron. The Prime Minister has reiterated his desire to introduce a fuel stabiliser to help motorists but that brings him into a public conflict with the Treasury, which does not want to enact the pledge. More

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Truckers caught causing dangers while driving!

admin — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 21:21:32 +0000

These shocking pictures show what truckers get up to on some of Britain’s busiest motorways when they thought traffic police weren’t watching. Officers caught one driver texting simultaneously with a mobile phone in either hand, and another watching DVDs from a laptop on his dashboard. One offender was found eating his dinner from a plate balanced on his steering wheel, while another was filmed with his feet up on the dashboard and one swigged cans of lager on the move. Motorway officers caught them using video cameras in an unmarked lorry cab to put themselves eye-level with truckers. Since the operation was launched by the Central Motorway Police Group (CMPG) 12 months ago, dozens of lorry drivers have been caught flouting the law on motorways in the West Midlands, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcestershire. Inspector Simon Westwood, of CMPG, said one of the most shocking cases was a lorry driver who was captured on camera texting simultaneously on two mobile phones – one in each hand. He said: ‘I couldn’t do that if I was in a quiet room sitting in an armchair, so the thought of someone doing it while driving a fully-laden heavy goods vehicle is positively scary. ‘The problem with trucks having collisions is that when they do it tends to be fairly indistinguishable from Armageddon. ‘It’s not the number of incidents we get, it’s the severity of them. More & Pictures

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Motorist fined for warning others of speed traps!

admin — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:36:02 +0000

A DRIVER who flashed his headlights at oncoming motorists to warn them of a police speed trap has been left with a £440 bill for “obstructing police”. Michael Thompson thought it was his “civic duty” to warn other drivers of the mobile speed cameras ahead. Thompson, 64, of Grimsby, Lincs, denied wilfully obstructing a policewoman in the execution of her duty on July 21 last year but was convicted after a trial. The vigorously-pursued prosecution was branded “ridiculous” and “a complete waste of taxpayers’ money” by lawyers. One solicitor praised Thompson and said: “He should be given a medal.” The trial, which took half a day at Grimsby Magistrates, cost the Crown Prosecution Service at least £250 and three police officers were in court for much of that time. Even they privately questioned the decision to pursue the case to prosecution and admitted that members of the public believed police time should be given to catching criminals. The trial heard Thompson was driving out of Grimsby on to the A46 dual carriageway when he spotted a police speed trap. He flashed his headlights about seven times to warn oncoming drivers heading towards Grimsby but was pulled in by the police. He claimed that, after he challenged the officers, one of them told him: “I was going to let you off with a caution but I’m not now.” More

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Council bosses ban lollipop man from wearing festive hats!

admin — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 22:13:04 +0000

COUNCIL chiefs have banned a lollipop man from wearing Christmas hats while helping youngsters cross the road. Paul Clevett claims he was threatened with the sack if he disobeyed orders. East Sussex County Council told the 42-year-old to take off his novelty headwear – insisting it posed a health and safety risk and could cause an accident. The crossing patrol veteran wore a different Christmas hat when working outside Forest Row Primary School for each shift over the festive season. But then he was told to leave the hats at home as they could distract a driver and cause them to crash. Speaking exclusively to the Courier & Observer, Mr Clevett said: “I have been wearing these hats for the last ten years. “All the kids love them and none of the parents have ever complained. “Quite a few of them asked why I wasn’t wearing one last week. I got a phone call saying I’m not meant to wear them. The council told me if I didn’t take it off I would be fired. I felt absolutely gutted, especially considering the number of years I have worked there. It’s terrible.” Mr Clevett began working at the Hartfield Road crossing in December 1996 and has never experienced any problems with his seasonal headwear before. “Most of the drivers actually enjoy it,” he said. “It’s a real shame, because it was a tradition. The hats will remain in the attic for now.” Parents have expressed their anger at the council’s decision. Clare Stockley said: “I am very upset about this. The children love him and my daughter loves to see which hat he has on in the morning. More

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Police replace all four tyres following one puncture!

admin — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 10:30:11 +0000

Scotland Yard is under fire after it paid out an estimated £500 to replace all four tyres – and the spare – on a patrol car, after one tyre suffered a puncture. According to the report in the Daily Mail, the other three tyres were all in good condition and the spare was brand new. However, when the mechanic, a contract employee, turned up to sort out the problem he insisted that he had to change them all because the tyres all had to be the same make. The incident has come to light after a police officer in the Metropolitan Police questioned the practice, which is believed to apply to all forces, at a time when the force is suffering financial cutbacks. PC Ken Brown, of Barking and Dagenham police, said he was amazed when he got a puncture recently and the mechanic who turned up removed all four tyres and replaced the spare in the boot. More

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American lady drives wrong way along motorway!

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 23:36:33 +0000

An elderly woman caused four accidents and countless near heart attacks by speeding the wrong way down a motorway. A motorist travelling in the same direction – but on the correct side of the road – pulled alongside the daredevil granny and filmed her astounding journey. Cars can be seen weaving out of the way, trying desperately to avoid a head on collision. Amazingly, the 84-year-old woman avoided being hit, but police said four other cars were involved in accidents after the incident in Pennsylvania. Despite other motorists flashing their lights and sounding their horns, the woman continued driving the wrong way for several miles until stopping and miraculously crossing lanes of oncoming traffic to take an exit. Shocked motorist Tim Fleming shot footage of the woman on his mobile phone as he pulled alongside her while she drove at least 50mph on the I-95 motorway. He said he tried to attract her attention by sounding his horn and waving his arm at her. But he said the woman,who has not yet been been named, waved at him to leave her alone and continued on her journey. Police later traced the woman to her home in Delaware after her daughter saw the footage of the incident on TV and recognised the car. The elderly woman told officers she was on her way to a dentist appointment and was not aware of doing anything wrong. More and video

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Dartford Crossing toll hike is ‘Highway Robbery’!

admin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:07:25 +0000

The AA has called the Government’s hike to tolls at the Dartford Crossing an act of “highway robbery”. The Government has announced that the toll will increase from £1.50 for cars to £2 next year and then to £2.50 the following year. This increase comes despite a previous promise that tolls would be dropped when the crossing was paid for. Roads and drivers will remain vital to help stimulate economic recovery, the AA had warned prior to this week’s Comprehensive Spending Review. Yet capital expenditure on transport will see an 11% reduction. The AA had pointed out that 93% of passenger journeys and the vast bulk of freight are moved by road, but important schemes on the A47, A19, A21, A14 have been cut. There is still some concern that local council transport spending cuts of 28% in 4 years will hit road maintenance and road improvements. More

Yellow box camera rakes in £1M a year!

admin — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 21:54:05 +0000

It has been called the “money box” – a traffic camera at a yellow box junction in Battersea, south London is raising a million pounds a year in fines levied on hapless motorists. Drivers claim they cannot avoid stopping inside the box because of severe congestion in the area caused by ongoing engineering works. Campaigners say it is part of a growing trend of motoring fines being used by authorities as stealth taxes. Up to 2,000 drivers a month are being fined for becoming stuck in the junction on Battersea Bridge Road, a main route from the south into the centre of London. The road has been the scene of major hold ups since a main arterial route was closed in February, making it difficult for cars to avoid stopping in the junction. More

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Council bans smiles for parking staff!

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:42:34 +0000

Brighton and Hove Council managers have been accused of losing their sense of humour after telling employees a smile could “inflame situations”. New staff joining the parking complaints team have been told to remain stony faced when dealing with griping members of the public. Mark Turner, branch secretary of the GMB union, said the advice, dished out at a staff induction training course, was “laughable”. He said: “I find this astounding. It flies in the face of common sense. “Smiling and cracking a joke is the best way of defusing a conflict situation. The GMB union don’t send me on courses telling me not to smile at the negotiating table. “This council love putting staff on pointless courses. They should focus on useful training that employees really need. But instead they fritter away time and money on ridiculous advice like this. “It is outrageous in the current financial situation.” Yesterday, a council spokeswoman said: “We provide training for our staff to ensure good customer service and to give staff the opportunity to develop their skills. “Training is also given to new staff on how to handle confrontation. This is a very specific situation and the training is designed to help staff use body language that would not inflame the situation. “This includes being aware that smiling when dealing with confrontation could be taken the wrong way.” More

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Drivers stranded after filling station mix up!

admin — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 12:32:22 +0000

Drivers were left stranded at a Black Country filling station when petrol was pumped into a diesel supply tank by mistake. Hundreds of pounds worth of the wrong fuel was pumped into cars and vans visiting the petrol station, at the Morrisons supermarket in Stallings Lane, Kingswinford. A dozen drivers, who had filled up with fuel, broke down at the scene and several AA recovery trucks were called out to the station during rush hour to rescue the stranded drivers. The problems began at 4.30pm on Tuesday and continued for around an hour before the station shut the tanks down. Morrisons spokesman Paul Fitzjohn said 12 people had filled up from two tanks dispensing the wrong fuel. One customer, Stewart Jones, filled up with £83 of what he thought was diesel. He said he only realised something was wrong when he went to pay. “They said I had put petrol in, but I said I knew for a fact I had put diesel in,” he said. “Within a few minutes there were about half a dozen people who had done exactly the same thing.” More

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Pensioner drives 75 yards along railway platform!

admin — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:19:57 +0000

A confused pensioner drove his car the full length of a train platform after taking a wrong turn, leaving rail passengers to scramble out of the way. Dozens of stunned passengers waiting for trains fled as the 80-year-old drove along the platform in his Saab, with his wife in the passenger seat. He travelled 75 yards along the London-bound platform at Esher Station in Surrey, teetering dangerously close to the edge, shortly after 4pm on Saturday afternoon. Panicking onlookers dialled 999 and three police cars and an ambulance rushed to the scene. Witnesses said the man looked ‘mortified’ when he realised his blunder. But it was several hours before police officers managed to have his blue Saab Vector towed away. The 8.03pm train from Woking to London Waterloo was unable to stop at the station while the car was being removed. Housewife Suzan Baker, 47, of Esher, said that she had never seen anything like it. She said: ‘I was absolutely amazed when I saw the car on the platform. It was not what you expect to see. ‘Everyone was doing a double take and wondering what on earth the car was doing there. ‘When I got to the platform, the car was parked and the man was standing outside. ‘He looked so mortified and embarrassed. His wife was in the passenger seat. ‘He had driven the entire length of the platform, bless him, then reached the point where he could not go any further forward. ‘There were around 40 passengers on the platform, who must have had to leap out of the way of the car. ‘He went back into the car and covered his face. More

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Lorry driver found driving with DVD and laptop on dash!

admin — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:00:16 +0000

A lorry driver was stopped by police and found with a table mounted to his dashboard – and a laptop and DVD player sitting on top. Central Scotland Police were stunned to find the man on September 21 at the Craigforth weighbridge in Stirling driving in his articulated lorry with the objects blocking his view of the road. The Hungarian driver had been travelling along busy motorways as he departed that morning from Aberdeen, and had planned to head all the way to Dover to catch a ferry, until being caught by police. They forced the man to remove the items from his dashboard and also pump up his tyre, which was deflated, before allowing him to head back on his journey. He was not arrested or prosecuted. More

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Some insurers charging £55 to amend policies!

admin — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:46:29 +0000

Insurers are charging up to £55 to make minor changes to policies, a report has revealed. Research by Which? Money found seven in ten car insurance providers and a third of home insurance firms make people pay for changing details such as marital status or address. On average, customers are charged £21 for car insurance policy amendments and £18 for changes to home insurance details. But some companies are charging much more. Young driver specialist I-Kube charges £55, while home insurer Bluefin has a £35 fee. Which? Money found 105 of 151 car insurance providers it analysed charge policy amendment fees. In addition 60 out of 180 home insurers levy the charges. Consumers also face fees for cancelling insurance midway through their policy term. More

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Car insurance cancelled after lad passes test!

admin — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 20:49:31 +0000

Passing your driving test is usually a time to celebrate. But for Independent reader Mike Ford, his joy was cut short when he passed his test last month because his insurer suddenly withdrew his cover. The reason? Marks & Spencer said it didn’t want to insure the 17-year-old any more because, as a qualified young driver, he was too much of a risk. M&S isn’t alone in penalising young people for being successful learners. Our tables below show that most insurance providers ramp up the cost of cover, but few go as far as M&S in simply leaving their customers uninsured. The move angered Mike’s father, Rob. “I find it totally reprehensible that a company of M&S’s standing should take on a provisional driver in full knowledge that they would cancel the policy the minute he passed his test, with no prior warning,” Mr Ford said. “What sort of signal does this send out to young drivers and their parents? Insurers warn of the dire consequences of a driver being found to be fronting [when someone other than the main driver is declared as the policyholder]; yet they treat honest policyholders with contempt.” More

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Ely railway bridge claims 16 victims in a year!

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:13:20 +0000

It has the unfortunate distinction of being Britain’s most bashed bridge, having been swiped and crunched 16 times in the past year. Lorries, camper vans and caravans have all come off the worse for wear after unexpected encounters with the nine-feet high bridge, which carries trains over the A142. Inspector Andy Bartlett of Cambridgeshire Police said: “We know not to take police vans under the bridge because there won’t be any blue lights on it once you get to the other side. “The bridge is clearly signposted,” he added. “But it is an awkward road.” This is because the bridge is close to a fork in the road, with one route leading to a level crossing and the other under the bridge. When traffic is held by the level crossing, some drivers get a little impatient. “They drive into the abyss,” Insp Bartlett said, slightly wearily.’ More

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11,000 motorists escaping totting up driving ban!

admin — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:38:29 +0000

A driver with 54 penalty points has been allowed to keep his licence by the courts, it has emerged. The 27-year-old from Teeside is one of more than 11,000 motorists whose licences have not been revoked despite totting up 12 points last year. Of these 10,000 have been let off by the courts, while another 1,000 are still driving because details of the disqualification failed to reach the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. The number of motorists still on the road despite accumulating more points than needed for a driving ban were disclosed, as a result of a Freedom of Information inquiry by a Sunday newspaper. Around one driver in four facing disqualification has been shown clemency under the “exceptional hardship” provisions which allow the courts a measure of discretion when considering whether to impose a driving ban. Nick Freeman, the solicitor known as “Mr Loophole”, has made a number of successful applications under these provisions. Last month he persuaded Staines magistrates to suspend a motoring ban faced by Joe Cole, the Liverpool footballer, after telling the court that the England international’s wife had been unable to get behind the wheel after being severely traumatised by a carjacking and therefore relied on her husband as a driver. Courts have shown clemency for a number of reasons, including accepting a plea from a businessman who persuaded magistrates that his company would lose key contracts. Andrew Howard, the AA’s head of road safety, voiced outrage at the number of motorists being let off. “You are not talking about someone who as made one mistake, but four,” he said. “If a quarter of motorists are getting let off, we seem to have forgotten the purpose of the law is to inconvenience those who repeatedly break it.” More

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Police officers smash up confiscated Mitsubishi!

admin — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 15:27:55 +0000

Two police officers could face prosecution after crashing a high-powered sports car confiscated from a suspected drink driver. The officers climbed into the 156mph Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII on Hale Road, in Hale, Trafford, while waiting for a recovery truck. But the pair ended up ploughing the turbo-charged, four-wheel drive car into the gardens of two luxury homes at the junction of Hale Road and Rydal Drive, rolling it onto its side. The two officers have been suspended from driving duties and the incident is being investigated by GMP’s professional standards unit. The investigation will focus on whether the officers had a legitimate reason for moving the five-year-old car. If it is ruled that they didn’t they could be prosecuted for taking a vehicle without consent. They will not be prosecuted for driving a car without insurance because they were on duty and covered by GMP’s policy. The officers – who have worked for GMP since May 2000 and January 2002 – were discovered in the car in the early hours of yesterday morning. More

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Foreign supercar drivers flee leaving £4M unpaid fines!

admin — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 21:50:13 +0000

Taxpayers have been footing the bill for the past three years as foreign supercar drivers have racked up a tab of unpaid parking fines for nearly £4 million. Not found on your average driveway, Lamborghinis, Hummers and Rolls Royces can regularly be seen left on yellow lines, in bus lanes or in residents’ parking bays as Middle Eastern drivers ignore parking regulations in central London. The Westminster City Council is powerless to recoup the money owed from the drivers who cannot be traced due to their number plates being from the Middle East. More

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Massive £538,000 fine for 180mph speeder!

admin — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:55:01 +0000

A speeding Swedish driver is facing the world‘s biggest ever motoring fine of 650,000 euros – around £538,000 – after being clocked at 180mph while driving through Switzerland. The 37-year-old man‘s £140,000 Mercedes SLS AMG was impounded along with his driving licence after soaring along at two and-a-half times the speed limit on a Swiss motorway. ‘We have no record of anyone being caught travelling faster in the country,’ said a police spokesman. The unnamed man was caught by a speed camera on the A12 highway between Bern and Lausanne on Friday. The police arrested him shortly afterwards when he stopped in a layby and he was released after questioning. It is believed he was collecting the brand new car from a seller in Germany. Benoît Dumas, a police officer in the area where the SLS six-litre-engine car was impounded, said: ‘He needed over half-a-kilometre of road to come to a halt.’ The driver had previously escaped being clocked by numerous speed cameras on his journey simply because he was going too fast and the instrument’s were incapable of clocking any speed beyond 200kph. It was a new generation of radar machines that finally caught him zooming along at close to 300kph. ‘I think the speedo on the car, which is new, is faulty,’ the driver told police. More

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Youngster faces £17,000 bill to insure £2,000 motor!

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 22:20:06 +0000

A learner driver has been quoted a staggering £17,000 to insure his £2,000 Vauxhall Corsa. Student James Hayes, who turns 17 next week, saved for months to buy his modest one-litre car but has been astonished at the sky-high quotes for insurance. He will have to work flat out over the summer to pay the premiums. His case highlights how insurers are increasingly using prohibitive premiums as a weapon against young male drivers. The failure of insurers to offer reasonably priced insurance is being blamed on an explosion in uninsured drivers, which drives up the cost of cover for others and leads middle-class parents to commit a crime by putting themselves as the main driver on their children’s cars. This reluctance to insure young men is based on accident statistics. Men aged 17 to 20 are almost ten times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the roads than older drivers, while one in five new drivers has a crash within six months of passing their test, according to road safety charity Brake. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says the average claim of a younger driver is also three times more than older drivers. But their refusal to cover male teenagers for affordable premiums has led to almost a quarter driving uninsured, according to Brake. And this ends up costing all motorists as they foot the £500million annual bill for accidents caused by uninsured drivers. Fines for driving without insurance can be as small as £200 plus six points on the licence. More

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Confusing signs help traffic camera to catch 16,123 drivers in three months!

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 20:32:42 +0000

Britain’s most profitable traffic camera has raked in almost £2 million in just three months after catching out motorists confused by a diversion. The single camera is earning a staggering £150,000-a-week from unwitting drivers who stray into a street filled with temporary bus and taxi lanes. The camera earns as much in a week as England and Chelsea football star John Terry – the country’s best-paid footballer – and is driving motorists mad. If it stays in place for 12 months, the camera – in Victoria, Central London – is on track to issue fines totalling a staggering £8 million. So far, 16,123 drivers have been hit with fines of £120 each at the diversion near Victoria rail station – one of the capital’s busiest junctions – swelling Transport for London (TfL) coffers by more than £1.9 million. The junction is used daily by thousands of motorists – many of them strangers to the capital dropping off or collecting people at the rail station and neighbouring Tube station. Even though large temporary red signs warn drivers of the diversion off busy Vauxhall Bridge Road, motorists still see permanent signposts for Victoria which direct them to make a right turn into what is now a temporary bus lane. Motoring organisations, which have complained about the camera, say the signs confuse drivers and this results in them straying into the bus lane. More

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Workmen lift car, paint yellow lines then give out fine!

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:46:25 +0000

Workmen were so determined to put down double yellow lines that they hoisted a woman’s car into the air and painted them underneath. They then replaced the vehicle the other way round – complete with a parking ticket. Sally Baker left her Peugeot 206cc on Little Quay Street in Manchester city centre because the road had unrestricted parking. But when she got back she found the vehicle was facing the other way with double yellows underneath. The fine was removed after the M.E.N challenged the workmen. It was replaced by a note saying: “Your car has been repositioned by the council.” At least two other cars – a BMW and a Mini – were also lifted up by a truck as the lines were painted on Little Quay Street and Atkinson Street, just off Deansgate. Sally, a 39-year-old accountant from Urmston, said: “I parked on Little Quay Street having looked carefully for any parking restrictions in place. “To find out that the council moved my car, without my permission and then placed it on to double yellow lines they had just painted is disgraceful. More

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Wasteful council put three speeding signs on tiny cul-de-sac!

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:10:10 +0000

A council has been criticised for erecting three speed limit signs in a tiny village cul-de-sac where residents say it’s virtually impossible to speed. The new 30mph signs have been put in the road in Sutton St Nicholas in Herefordshire. However residents say the signs at Millway and the adjoining Willow Rise are completely unnecessary, as it’s virtually impossible to speed on the 25 metre long road. Resident John Hollywell, 67, said he had never seen anything like it during 30 years on his picturesque street, where houses are worth up to £300,000. “It seems nonsensical. It is bureaucracy gone mad,” he said. “Why they have done it we have no idea. It is utterly ridiculous because if someone even went round the bend doing more than 30mph they would go into a house. “It is a storm in a teacup but seems to me to be a total waste of money.” One of the signs was put up right outside his house. He added: “We were not informed it was going to happen. It just happened in the last fortnight. First they came and put the post in and then the 30mph signs appeared. “I would have thought a letter would come round saying it was going to happen.” The 30mph notices were discussed at the latest Sutton St Nicholas Parish Council meeting after residents felt the chances of travelling at that speed in such a small area were virtually impossible. More

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Workers paint white lines around dead badger!

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 21:20:19 +0000

THE famous white stripes of the humble badger seem to have been put to an unusual use lately, saving the taxpayer money for paint and council contractors a few seconds on their long days. Reader Kevin Maul was on his way home from work when he noticed double white lines had been painted on an S bend near the county border on the A338. Lying sadly amid the fresh paint, however, was a badger who had breathed his last more than a week before. Mr Maul, who had been posting flyers for his business Lawntender around Fordingbridge and Damerham, said: “I couldn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw him, this poor old badger who had been there over a week. “I’d seen him every day as I went by and wondered if he was going to be picked up. Then on Friday I drove home to see his body between the lines – they had painted the road, but left a gap where he lay.” More

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Trucker pulls out one of his teeth while driving!

admin — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 22:47:11 +0000

A Kitchener truck driver is facing a careless driving charge but on the bright side, his tooth doesn’t hurt anymore. Lambton County OPP say they stopped a big rig driver doing some driving dentistry along Hwy. 402 on Wednesday. Const. John Reurink told the Sun Saturday it’s the first time he’s ever heard of a driver being pulled over performing dental surgery. “I’ve never heard of this sort of thing occurring before,” Reurink said, adding he has stopped drivers doing their make-up, reading a map or talking on a cellphone. “Somebody doing an amateur tooth pulling? That’s a first.” Reurink said it all started June 30 when an officer was on Hwy. 402 in Warwick Township, near Sarnia, and a passing driver pointed him to a tractor trailer being driven “all over the road.” The officer found the eastbound rig and pulled it over. Cops determined the 58-year-old driver was driving so poorly because he was trying to pull out a tooth while he was driving. “The driver was very forthright with the officer,” Reurink said. The amateur dentist of a driver had rigged a string around his hurting tooth and then tied the other end to the roof of the cab, police said. “One good bump and the tooth should come out,” police explained. More

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Lady charged £1,333 to park for 30 minutes!

admin — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:51:17 +0000

A mother who parked in a shopping centre multi-storey for half an hour was stunned after returning to her car to discover the bill was a staggering £1,333. Diane Slater had only popped to the town centre to pay some bills and run a few errands. But the 49-year-old panicked when she discovered her half-hour trip had been charged at a rate of £44.43 a minute – or a mind-boggling 74p a second. The car park of the Clock Towers Shopping Centre, in Rugby, Warwickshire, normally charges shoppers 50p for an hour and £1.50 for up to three hours. But the token-operated machine had incorrectly calculated her stay as being a huge 308 days – even though the car park closes at 7pm daily and does not allow overnight stays. Finding herself short of over a grand in cash to pay the bill, she pleaded with the car park’s security guard to recognise the obvious technical blunder. But he initially told her she would have to fork out the money before his common-sense colleague came to Mrs Slater’s rescue. More

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