A parking manager for Cumbria County Council has urged people who get parking tickets to appeal them more.

This comes after a man successfully appealed when he was given a parking ticket in the restricted parking zone of the Historic Quarter in Carlisle - which some have labelled confusing.

The zone was created in 2014 and expanded in 2019 to incorporate several streets.

When entering the zone, drivers pass a sign that tells them they’ve entered a restricted parking zone and they can only park in marked bays.

This was done instead of putting yellow lines on roads with ‘historical significance’, Sean Green, parking manager at Cumbria County Council said.

Drivers are not to park anywhere other than the marked bays, which some drivers think means the opposite.

Grahame Johnstone of Carlisle got a fine for parking on Warwick Street – part of the so-called ‘Zone HC’ in the city - back on May 19.

Grahame questioned the warden present who said he should appeal the ticket.

Grahame had his fine had been rescinded, but was told not to take it as an indication to park there again.

Responding to this, a spokesperson from Cumbria County Council said: “Whilst the scheme is compliant, we have become aware of some public confusion and we are investigating measures to provide additional clarity.”

Sean Green said there is public confusion about the rules, particularly in Warwick Street.

He said that people should appeal tickets when they get them if they genuinely feel they’re not breaking any rules.

In regards to Grahame’s case, the fine was rescinded because, while the rules were broken, it was accepted that there was a fair amount of confusion, and it is sometimes at the discretion of the parking team to deny or accept appeals depending on circumstance.

The news did start a conversation, however, on how people react to these PCNs.

Often, people pay them immediately, even though they may be innocent because it’s seen as 'a sentence instead of an allegation'.

Sean said: “I would love to change that approach; I think a lot of people would just pay them.

“I remember seeing a stat that 80 per cent of those who get a ticket don't appeal, there's a bit of tarnish from the private sector acting a bit roguishly, there's a public perception of once you get a ticket, that's it.

“The wording is deliberate, it says ‘reason to believe’, they are not judge jury and executioners, it does not say ‘we know 100 per cent that a contravention has taken place'.

“A success to us is issuing less tickets and not more.

“A lot of people don't realise the civil enforcement officers are sometimes the first line of defence, because they won't issue a PCN if they think something is wrong with the restriction, it looks like we're leaving them alone, the answer is we can't because there's a problem with the restriction there will be a missing sing or low-quality road markings, they will not issue.

“I really do want to work on the public perception of parking enforcement and let people know that we are reasonable people and a reasonable service, we do have to take it very seriously because we're taking money off people, and people have a right to expect that it's done correctly.”

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