READING Borough Council is apologising to residents and urging them to register for refunds they could be due over “unenforcable” parking fines.
It comes after the discovery that the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) on sections of the East Reading Red Route and as well as parking restrictions in other locations should not have been enforced.
The council estimates that more than 6,000 penalty charge notices have been issues and paid, the majority of which were handed out after July 2018, though some date back as far as 2013.
Motorists who have received relevant charges are urged to visit the council website from Wednesday, October 16, where they will be able to claim a reimbursement.
Residents who have been subject incorrectly to a debt recovery process will be contacted directly, informing them that they are eligible for repayments and advising how the repayment will be made.
The errors in a number of Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) came to light when a member of staff reported a defect on the East Reading Red Route.
A wider investigation was then launched to review whether there were further issues with regulation orders, and a small number were found to be incorrect.
Overall, five separate areas are affected:
– The Red Route East, which includes Kings Road from Watlington Street to Cemetery Junction, Wokingham Road, and partially into adjoining streets such as Queens Road and London Road, between January 11–15, 2018 and after ,11 July 2018.
– Swainstone Road/Waldeck Street Resident Permit Parking schemes
– Red Route West, in Tilehurst and Red Route in West Reading
– Southcote Verge and Footway’s parking ban area
– Tilehurst and Kentwood’ Verge and Footway parking ban area
Residents are encouraged to check the council website for which specific areas and in which time periods the TROs were unenforcable.
Jackie Yates, Chief Executive of Reading Borough Council, said: “I sincerely apologise to all motorists and residents who have been affected by these errors and urge them to visit the Council’s website so that we can reimburse them.
“We have made the reimbursement process as easy as possible for people who have been wrongly issued with penalty charge notices, whilst ensuring we have appropriate verification checks in place.
“Parking enforcement action was suspended as soon as the Council became aware of the specific TRO issues and further action is being taken to ensure that the circumstances which led to this situation don’t happen again.
“On behalf of the council, I sincerely apologise to motorists for the distress and inconvenience caused.”
