A FURIOUS driver has won a “historic” court case against his local council over the size of the “P” on its parking signs, which could see thousands of other motorists launch a legal challenge.
Chris Burton, 42, had a David and Goliath moment in court when he proved the blue box that contains the letter “P” on permit parking signs in his local area are 6cm smaller than they should be.
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It came after the TV cameraman spent hours going round with a tape measure to check signage in his town Bury, Greater Manchester.
His victory in court means the parking ticket he received – as well as countless others over the years handed to other drivers – are unenforceable.
And it raises questions over whether the council is now facing a huge bill to replace all of its signs to comply with UK law.
Chris, who lives with his partner in Middleton, Gtr Manchester, received a parking ticket on May 25 while taking his dad Peter, 83, to an appointment at Fairfield hospital in the town.
After carefully checking for parking signs, he left his Volkswagen Shiran on a residential street.
But when he returned to the vehicle he had been hit with a £60 fine.
Chris then scoured the street and found a residents only parking sign obscured by an overgrown bush and another sign which had been turned round and was not facing the road.
He wrote a letter to the council explaining this and was left when they thanked him for highlighting the issues – but upheld the fine.
Furious, Chris then went on a mission to prove his fine was unfair.
He appealed informally and then formally – both of which were quickly rejected – before having his day in court.
Chris said: “I got the parking ticket and went down a rabbit hole online.
“I discovered signage in the UK has to be a certain size.
“If they had let me off I wouldn’t have gone down this road.
“I went round one night with a light and tape measure and I measured them all. It’s a reasonable area. It took me around seven hours.”
He then submitted 60 pages of evidence to Northampton County Court which considered his fine and ruled it was unenforceable.
“It was my David and Goliath,” said Chris.
While that part of the sign in the UK is supposed to be 20cm, this part of signs in Bury are just 14cm, according to Chris.
He said: “That’s 30% smaller than they should be. It’s not enforceable.
“The council appealed the decision and took it to tribunal, and I won again.
“My case is historic. Anyone else issued a parking ticket in the town should consider appealing because of the signage.
According to a Freedom of Information request submitted by Chris, Bury Council has raked in £5.8m in parking fines over the last seven years.
He added: “I’m a stickler – I just want to win. Now I want to raise awareness of this as I think my case can help others.”
A Bury Council spokesman said: “Mr Burton was issued with a PCN for parking without a permit in a residents’ only parking zone near Fairfield Hospital.
His initial appeal was rejected, and he was informed that he could either pay the PCN or appeal to the independent parking tribunal in Manchester.
If he did appeal to the adjudicator, we have not been informed of the outcome.
As far as the size of parking signs is concerned – we believe this issue relates to a tiny number of signs located at residents only parking zones, not to parking signs in general across the borough.
We are satisfied that the overwhelming number of signs across Bury are fully in accordance with national regulations, and any which are not will be rectified.”
