Half of Lambeth's traffic wardens were illegals

[help_shiny]

As I'm sure this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to traffic wardens in London and probably other large cities as well.......I wonder if anyone who has ever had a ticket from one of these people now has the right to contest it?

 

 

 

From The Times:

 

 

Traffic wardens quit after migrant checks

Forty-eight traffic wardens have departed their jobs in South London after new management carried out immigration checks.

 

Half of all the wardens who had been patrolling Lambeth resigned or were sacked. They had been part of a team run by the Apcoa company.

 

When NCP Services took over the contract and began checks on the status of staff, dozens failed to turn up for work. Several brought in passports found to be forgeries. It is believed that Lambeth council will now investigate how Apcoa recruited staff. NCP said: “In Lambeth, 48 staff resigned when we began making checks. We do not know whether all of them did not have the right to work in the UK, because they resigned of their own accord.”

 

Apcoa refused to comment. A spokesman said: “We would not want to comment on a contract that is no longer ours.”

 

Lambeth council said: “We absolutely support NCP in their efforts. It would be inappropriate for us to comment on the practices of the previous contractor at this stage.”

[Matt]

Can I just remind people to take a moments pause before debating this issue.

[johnny punkster]

illegal immigrants or not ,it opens a huge can of worms.

if these are people posing as ,say, police(of whatever race,colour etc) and they are not qualified to do the job/posing as that officer,then surely their actions are not valid?....they can't be law inforcers because they don't qualify by law to be one?

if so,id say that the above situation would be the same.

they wern't allowed to do those jobs by law,therefore all penelties imposed by those should be null and void.

 

reading their comments,NCP + lambert council are covering their asses...and profits.

[beag_teeets]

Coming over here, taking a job and paying tax, keeping the roadways moving and clear of illegally parked vehicles, grrr, makes my blood boil. Wasn't like this in my day, illegals would come over here and do naffink cept claim benefits and steal our wimmin. Thems were propa illegals not like them hardworking lot of today.

[help_shiny]

Coming over here, taking a job and paying tax, keeping the roadways moving and clear of illegally parked vehicles, grrr, makes my blood boil. Wasn't like this in my day, illegals would come over here and do naffink cept claim benefits and steal our wimmin. Thems were propa illegals not like them hardworking lot of today.

 

 

I think Lambeth councils ticketing policy strayed from being one of keeping the roadways moving several years ago. It's all about the £'s - and what better way of achieving it than farming out the operation to the lowest bidder, pay the lowest wages and get the lowest calibre workforce. Bingo - kerching etc.

[leeslover]

*Adopts treading carefully posture*

 

The validity of the tickets they’ve issued will as likely as not come to a test case. Since 31.03.08 a valid ticket can only be issued by a warden who has been CRB checked, so I guess it’s how you interpret that, if someone has been checked but on a false ID, I’m not sure how it would be viewed. As for the make up of the wardens, it’s done largely by immigrants for the same reason that immigrants clean 95% of the toilets in London, namely that it’s a grotty job which white British people don’t really. And as for the revenue generating side of it, local authorities do by and large build their anticipated fine levels into their spending plans so they wouldn’t be thrilled to see everyone following the rules all of a sudden. Boris “Beer-thief” Johnson is implementing a more touchy-feely approach to enforcement which is seeping down into other authorities but it remains to be seen how long that will last.

 

Or so a bloke in the pub told me.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Coming over here, taking a job and paying tax, keeping the roadways moving and clear of illegally parked vehicles, grrr, makes my blood boil. Wasn't like this in my day, illegals would come over here and do naffink cept claim benefits and steal our wimmin. Thems were propa illegals not like them hardworking lot of today.

 

Yeah. And they always used to issue tickets with a smile back then too. I blame the credit crunch really. And global warming.

 

Hell in a handcart and all that.

[Diego_Sideburns]

And as for the revenue generating side of it, local authorities do by and large build their anticipated fine levels into their spending plans so they wouldn’t be thrilled to see everyone following the rules all of a sudden.

 

So Council Tax payers should be grateful that if it wasn't for the illegal parkers paying their penalty charges, their bills would be bigger.

[help_shiny]

knowing something of the way Lambeth Council's lot do business (no, I have never had a ticket from them) I recalled them putting yellow lines down overnight and then ticketing cars parked there. I had a shufty on the net for them - found them - but found an absolute gem that I wasnt aware of..........a man - and presumably council tax payer - was knocked off his scooter a few years back. Whilst he lay in the road being tended by paramedics and with a police car in attendance......a Lambeth Council drone stuck a ticket on his crumpled scooter. I have no idea if the aforementiond drone was working illegally in this country or not but it brings me pleasure that one of the countrys greatest Rotten Boroughs has been taken down a small peg today. Still, they'll have another 50 wardens employed next week - no training, just ticket targets - so what if they're not actually parking illegally, stick 'em on!

Edited September 24, 2008 by help_shiny

[Stitch_KTF]

I had a shufty on the net for them - found them - but found an absolute gem that I wasnt aware of..........a man - and presumably council tax payer - was knocked off his scooter a few years back. Whilst he lay in the road being tended by paramedics and with a police car in attendance......a Lambeth Council drone stuck a ticket on his crumpled scooter.

 

 

Brilliant aren't they? Valentines Day 2005 I was pottering along at 30mph when some tart with a massive bunch of flowers on the back shelf reversed out into the road and took off half of my drivers side. I parked up around the corner and near enough the same thing happened - being given a ticket whilst getting the girls details!! He soon relented though.....

 

I've probably had more tickets then everybody on here put together. Me and mate used to 'collect' them from the NCP carpark opposite where we lived once it became clear unpaid tickets weren't chased up. Not a word of a lie. It became a competition - literally parking there in the hope of getting a ticket. I had 50-60 at one point then went out and put one on near enough every car come April Fools

 

My piece of advice based on the above would be to never pay a private companys (europark, ncp etc) ticket until/unless you get the reminder. Council/Police ones you should always pay during the cheaper period - they CAN NOT be escaped. I have tried many a time with little success, believe me.

[leeslover]

My piece of advice based on the above would be to never pay a private companys (europark, ncp etc) ticket until/unless you get the reminder. Council/Police ones you should always pay during the cheaper period - they CAN NOT be escaped. I have tried many a time with little success, believe me.

Pretty expensive advice I should say. Private ones are unenforceable unless they actually have your car in a clamp, they have no grounds to register a debt with a Court so can’t get a Warrant and send the bailiffs round. They just send the details to someone who will write you a couple of letters trying to scare you, you can wipe your arse on these if it makes you happy. Local authority ones on the other hand you mustn’t ignore, but there are countless grounds to challenge them if you have some idea of the process. A good proportion of them can be got off with just on technicalities. What you must do is make sure they have told you it won’t be escalated while you try to get it overturned, there is no legal obligation on them to do so.

 

Or so the other bloke in the pub reckons.

[Stitch_KTF]

Pretty expensive advice I should say. Private ones are unenforceable unless they actually have your car in a clamp, they have no grounds to register a debt with a Court so can’t get a Warrant and send the bailiffs round. They just send the details to someone who will write you a couple of letters trying to scare you, you can wipe your arse on these if it makes you happy. Local authority ones on the other hand you mustn’t ignore, but there are countless grounds to challenge them if you have some idea of the process. A good proportion of them can be got off with just on technicalities. What you must do is make sure they have told you it won’t be escalated while you try to get it overturned, there is no legal obligation on them to do so.

 

Or so the other bloke in the pub reckons.

 

Really? If what you say is true, and became common knowledge, the whole private carparking system would surely be ruined Can NCP (for example) not pursue an unpaid ticket through the small claims court?? If I was to respond to a debt collectors letter saying what you have said, maybe with their soiled letter enclosed, would they just leave me alone?

 

Here's me thinking I had a right result when EuroCarParks recently accepted 50% payment as full and final settlement!

[leeslover]

Really? If what you say is true, and became common knowledge, the whole private carparking system would surely be ruined Can NCP (for example) not pursue an unpaid ticket through the small claims court?? If I was to respond to a debt collectors letter saying what you have said, maybe with their soiled letter enclosed, would they just leave me alone?

 

Here's me thinking I had a right result when EuroCarParks recently accepted 50% payment as full and final settlement!

Well, most of them make you pay to leave but yes, the ones doing things like ticketing you at supermarkets can't do a thing. They might threaten to refer you to a Debt Recovery Agency or similar, but all that they could do is basically ask you to pay. You haven't broken the law or broken a contract, so no claim, but people get nervous when they think a bailiff is going to appear on the doorstep.

[Stitch_KTF]

Well, most of them make you pay to leave but yes, the ones doing things like ticketing you at supermarkets can't do a thing. They might threaten to refer you to a Debt Recovery Agency or similar, but all that they could do is basically ask you to pay. You haven't broken the law or broken a contract, so no claim, but people get nervous when they think a bailiff is going to appear on the doorstep.

 

Leave as in should they have you clamped?

 

You sure parking on a clearly signed carpark isn't somehow deemed 'acceptance of contract'? I can see myself arguing the case over a dozen tickets sometime......."Well, a man in a pub told Leeslover, who told me..."

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

My piece of advice based on the above would be to never pay a private companys (europark, ncp etc) ticket until/unless you get the reminder.

 

This reminds me. About 2 years ago I went to collect my contact lens perscription up from my opticians at Harphurhey Shopping Centre (Note: Clearly has to have more undersirable hoodies ratio per sq yard than anywhere else in Manchester) and I unwittingly parked in a disabled space. Upon returning to my motor I found a parking ticket on the windscreen from some unknown private company for about £80. Never paid it, and never did recieve a follow up from said company.