Safe Speed Forums

So I had to apply for another MOT certificate which I had to wait a week for!!

I hope there isn't a ching in the post then, knowing what DVLA are like these days.

No there wasn't. Surprisingly enough, I called the DVLA for clarification and they said that while it was technically an offence to use my car for the timebeing, they'd be very surprised if any action was taken especially under the circumstances.

Some time ago, my son couldn't tax his car because the jobsworth at the post office refused on the grounds that his insurance ran out the day before the first day of the new VED. You can read the story here. Note that my son had continuous insurance - he just didn't have the new certificate to show the post office jobsworth until a few days after his old VED expired.

Has anyone encountered a better jobsworth?

TICKET FOR POLICEMAN WHO FAILED TO PAY PARKING FEE

BY TIM HEALY

08:00 - 20 January 2007

A traffic cop got a £50 ticket when a warden spotted he had stopped in a council car park without buying a ticket.

The penalty notice was issued in a town centre car park after the warden had recorded the incident on camera.

Pc Bryn Sabin was giving vital evidence in court only a few yards away and left a note in his windscreen saying where he was.

Harborough magistrates were hearing a case about an accident in which a motorcyclist was killed on the Market Harborough to Tilton on the Hill road.

Pc Sabin, who has nearly 19 years on the force, discovered the parking ticket when the court adjourned for lunch.

Council bosses in the town say police must pay to use the car parks and Leicestershire Police Force bosses say officers are not exempt from the fees when they are attending court.

Pc Sabin tried to reason with the traffic warden who had just issued the ticket.

The officer explained that he had brought the vehicle into town because he may have been asked to take people to the scene of the accident as part of the case.

He parked in the council car park because spaces outside the court in Doddridge Road were all taken.

Outside court, Pc Sabin told the Leicester Mercury: "It's all very petty. It wasn't as if I was coming into town to do my shopping or anything. I had to have the car close at hand because I was on standby to take the magistrates out to the crash site."

A spokeswoman for Leicestershire police said that officers had to pay to park unless they were on an emergency or had to park as part of an ongoing operation. She said attending court did not qualify.

She could not say if the officer would have to pay the penalty.

A spokeswoman for Harborough District Council said: "Since November 2004, when charges were introduced, there has been an agreement with the police that marked police vehicles would be exempt from purchasing a pay and display ticket only when attending emergency call-outs. Routine patrols, interviews and attendance at court are not deemed as emergency call-outs and therefore a pay and display ticket must be displayed by marked police vehicles whilst carrying out these duties."

The fine is reduced to £25 if it is paid within seven days.

The warden said: "I just did what I am supposed to."