They overstepped the line with this!

Jun 5 2008 by Gary Fanning

A FURIOUS council worker this week hit out after she was issued with a £60 fine at a Hamilton retail park.

Care worker Janette McCallum, of Portland Place, Hamilton, was slapped with a fixed-penalty notice after leaving her 4x4 Nissan Torneo parked over a white line of a car park space.

The 53-year-old mother-of-one was shopping at the Instore shop within the Douglas Retail Park last Thursday when she was issued with the parking charge.

Mrs Callum’s vehicle was ticketed because it was causing an obstruction.

But Mrs McCallum insisted her vehicle wasn’t causing an obstruction and is set to appeal against the fine.

She said: “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the penalty notice. It was very unfair, and I don’t think I am going to pay it.

“I had bought a lot of goods from Instore and their manager kindly helped me to put them into the boot of my car.

“I went back into the shop to tell him that I was given a parking fine, and he couldn’t believe it when I showed him the ticket.

“I said that I definitely wasn’t causing an obstruction.”

After being given the ticket, Mrs McCallum went to do her grocery shopping at nearby Sainsbury’s.

She came out the store and confronted the parking attendant about the fine.

She added: “I parked in a space between two other cars. They had left by the time I returned. I don’t think I did anything wrong.

“The parking attendant told me that I wasn’t the only person who got a ticket that day. How many more people are in a similar position?

“If I had been parked in a disabled bay or parent and child space, then I would put my hand up and it would have been my own fault.”

Mrs McCallum has one daughter, 17-year-old Connie, a former John Ogilvie High and Glenlee Primary pupil.

The mum added: “Last Friday, I was using a small council car park near to Beckford Hospital.

“I noticed there are signs in the car park warning motorists that they face being issued with a fine if their vehicle is over the white lines within the parking space. But there is nothing up in the retail park about that.

“How can they fine drivers for doing this, if they haven’t told them about it?”

A Central Ticketing spokesman said they will investigate the incident.

“Our policy is that if a vehicle’s tyre goes slightly into another bay, we will cancel the ticket,” he said. “But if the vehicle is blatantly taking up two bays then the ticket will stand.”

The spokesman insisted that there are signs in the retail park warning motorists to park within bays.

He added: “If there is a grey area, our appeals department look at it straight away with photographic evidence.

“We don’t always assume that our wardens are right. If the warden was over-zealous than the ticket will be cancelled automatically. But the warden there is fairly experienced.”