A Burnham-On-Sea motorist has called on the district council to rethink the design of car parking tickets sold at a seafront car park after he received a fine earlier this week.
Tickets sold from machines at the Pier Street car park do not have sticky, adhesive backings and this – according to Burnham man Jason White – led to him being fined.
Mr White, pictured, bought a ticket for his Peugeot 306 from the machines next to Somerfield supermarket last Saturday and, despite buying an hour’s parking, found a £30 Fixed Penalty Notice attached to his windscreen when he returned a few minutes later with his shopping.
“The district council says my ticket was not visible, even though I’d placed it on the dashboard and am certain it was still on display.”
“The problem is that none of the tickets sold from these machines have normal sticky backings so when you shut your car door in windy conditions, which are common here on the seafront, the ticket might well blow away or slip down the dashboard.”
“I’m hoping to get my fine overturned by Sedgemoor – but a change in the design of tickets sold from a windy, seafront car park like this is essential.”
He added: “It makes you wonder whether leaving off the sticky backing is better for revenue generation.”
Sedgemoor District Council spokeswoman Claire Faun told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “It is no longer council policy for parking machines in the district to issue adhesive-backed tickets, so these are not in operation in Burnham.”
She added: “Some time ago, we did trial sticky-backed tickets in Pier Street car park, but the sea air affected the chemicals on the tickets, which led to problems with the machines themselves.”
“Our advice is for motorists to check carefully that their ticket is on full view before they leave their vehicle.”
