2. Civil Enforcement Officer YE07

On the morning of 7th August 2012 the vehicle was parked up whilst it was unloaded of large speaker cabinets and other equipment. Once it was unloaded, it was then found that the vehicle would not start again. The time was around 12.00 midday.

(You should be made aware that where the vehicle had broken down was on an area of unrecognisable  double yellow lines, deemed unenforceable in court, at the end of High Brighton Street. Residents had successfully appealed against approx 30 parking tickets when their vehicles had been wrongly issued parking tickets.These appeals were heard in Magistrates Court as at the time it was a criminal matter and not as it is now ...Civil and in the hands of ERYC and not the police. The lines were unenforceable as they were found to be wrong and Mike Peeke, Area Engineer of ERYC admitted such in court.

Unbelievably at the Tribunal on the 19th Feb, they tried to say the vehicle was unlawfully parked whilst it was unloading. This is sheer tosh! Even if the lines had been enforceable the vehicle would still have not been unlawfully parked whilst it was unloading under the new regulations ERYC (Civil Enforcement) Order 2011 as Item 16 states and l quote:-

Nothing in Articles 9 to 12 shall render it unlawful to cause or permit to wait or park in any of the prohibited or restricted roads, lengths of roads or on the sides of road specified on the plans for so long as it may be necessary to enable goods to be loaded to or unloaded from a vehicle (or goods or merchandise to be delivered or collected)

l had to look the above up after the Tribunal on the 19th Feb 2013 as l did not expect CPE of ERYC to try this approach. l'm confident Mr Knapp the Adjudicator knows his onions though.

lt is also worth noting that ERYC tried to repaint the double yellow lines the day previously (6th August 2012) but because a vehicle was in the way they could not complete the task. The broken down vehicle was now in the position that the other vehicle had been in .... the unfinished double yellow lines being behind the rear wheels. Take note of the date of 6th August 2012 as Mr Greenley rewrites history in his 'evidence'.  We'll deal with him later)

So, back to the 7th August 2012. Whilst l was working on the broken down vehicle, Civil Enforcement Officer YE07 turns up around 1pm. The vehicle has its bonnet up, wires, parts and tools everywhere. She asks if the vehicle has broken down and l say it has.She asks how long will it take to fix and l say probably 2 hrs. She says ok and walks off.

This conversation is heard and seen by a neighbour sitting in the sunshine in their front garden which is approx only 5 metres from the vehicle. l continue to work on the vehicle and in the process make various trips to the workshop for tools and online information. The workshop (converted garage) is down a driveway off High Brighton Street and the workshop is approx 20 metres from the vehicle. After about 60 mins or so, l eventually trace the fault to the glo-plug relay which is needed in all diesel engines in order for them to run. l ring my garage to see if they have one and they say they have although it is second-hand. l arrange with them to drop it off for me.The time is just after 2pm.

l prepare the vehicle for the spare part but whilst l'm back in the workshop (time approx 2.30 pm), the neighbour in the garden comes to tell me YE07 has returned and is putting a parking ticket on the broken down vehicle! l immediately go and confront YE07 and ask her why she is doing this. She replies that she can see no evidence of work being carried out on the vehicle! The bonnet of the vehicle is till up with tools scattered about  and the side door is wide open ... YE07 is stood next to the open bonnet and she would've had to negotiate the open bonnet to put the parking ticket on the windscreen. She starts to say something else but l say 'l don't want to talk to you' and walk away to get my i-phone as l want a photo of YE07. When l return, l see YE07 has walked off and l cannot see her. l walk to the Promenade and see her walking towards town centre. l catch her up and take a photo. Little did l realise how important this photo would turn out to be. l am also thankful to the neighbour as they had just heard and seen my 2nd conversation with YE07 at the broken down vehicle.

l leave YE07 and return to the vehicle to find the garage people have arrived with the spare part. l fit the part and move the vehicle. The time is 2.45pm.

ERYC's Civil Parking Enforcement Procedures on breakdowns are :-


4.5 Breakdowns
If a vehicle has broken down in a restricted area and the driver is present then the Civil Enforcement Officer (CEO) will allow a reasonable amount of time for the vehicle to be removed. However, if a driver has left the vehicle and placed a note on the windscreen with no clear evidence of a breakdown, after the observation period then the CEO will issue a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) and make a record stating that a note was present. If the breakdown is legitimate, then the driver will be able to make a written representation through the appeal process and each case will be considered based on the individual circumstances.


Next on the the agenda will be John Skidmore, Head of Street Services, ERYC and my complaint about YE07. This is the beginning of where the actual facts of the incident become unrecognisable once in the hands of John Skidmore, YE07 and Mark Greenley.

However, l believe a short post on the 'Neighbours from Hell' is needed at this point. Stay tuned!