Part 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!

Part 1. A Brief Overview

From the very beginning l tried to resolve this issue amicably but alas it was not to be. l don't even live down the street where it all began. Indeed, l sold up everything l owned in the UK years ago and moved abroad but still travel frequently to the UK as my family live here. l have no permanent residence within the UK and so whilst l'm here l stay with family and friends.

As it stands in the UK today, justice takes a backseat. This applies to not only parking tickets but many other facets of your everyday life. lt is no longer about whether you are guilty or not guilty, it comes plainly down to finances. Take parking tickets for instance, you are left with the choice of paying the 35 pound charge or going to a tribunal to attempt to prove your innocence. You'll have to take time off work, pay for your travel expenses and so forth. Even if you win, you will be out of pocket because you cannot claim your costs. This now is being rolled out to cover many other 'offences'.

Also you should be made aware that since Nov 2011 that there are no longer Traffic Wardens for ERYC, they are now  Civil Enforcement Officers. There is a huge difference between the two. Parking enforcement now comes under the control of ERYC and not the police. Parking offences are no longer classed as criminal but are now civil. lf you think you are better off because of this, think again!

l myself will not stand idly by and see justice simply cast aside and neither will l accept incompetence or lying. l've read many articles over the past months regarding parking ticket complaints and many have come to the conclusion that they have dealt with 'jumped up little Hitlers'. You may yourself come to the same conclusion as this story unfolds ... that will be for you to decide.

A great deal of this attitude comes about because the Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) are not easily contactable. They have a PO Box number and that is it. You won't find them on the Council website and it seems impossible to get phone numbers or e-mail addresses. My own sister works as a receptionist for another council and she refers to the CPE as the Ivory Towers.

This particular case, that we shall publish on this blog, involved the CPE Team of East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC). They put together their 'evidence' to use at a recent tribunal and it was signed by an M Greenley .... and that was all. There was no mention of his position within ERYC. l'd assumed at first he was a solicitor but after coming into contact with him yesterday (19th Feb 2013) at the tribunal l quickly changed my opinion. l've since found he is a CPE Supervisor at Suite B, Wold House, Annie Reed Road, Beverley.l truly believe that this man is either incompetent or a liar ... perhaps both! You can judge for yourself later.

This blog will publish documents from many souces including Subject Access Requests and FOI's. lt will deal mainly with the 4 most relevant people involved. CEO (Civil Enforcement Officer) YE07, John Skidmore (Head of Street Services), Mark Greenley (CPE Supervisor) and Mr Knapp (Adjudicator re Parking Appeals). Note:- am awaiting result of tribunal by post.

Other articles will include the 'Neighbours from Hell', Humberside Police on how they issued parking tickets wrongly for 19 years because ERYC had contravened parking regulations (Mr Greenley admitted they had put down double yellow lines wrongly at the tribunal. He is on an audio recording of the tribunal saying this) and of course ERYC itself. The road concerned is High Brighton Street, Withernsea and the double yellow lines that Mr Greenley admitted were wrong are at the end of High Brighton Street next to the Promenade.

Please note that ERYC is not Withernsea Town Council and you should not confuse the two. .

So, let's begin at the beginning and where it all began. Ladies and gentlemen, l give you Civil Enforcement Officer YE07 and the subject of the next post.