Man upset with fine for parking in lane

A MAN who received a penalty charge notice while visiting a pop-up restaurant in Hambleden said parking signs in the area need to be improved.

Rob Francis, 67, who lives off Greys Road, parked his car at the side of the road in Ferry Lane, about 300m away from the Flower Pot pub, when visiting the Lockdown Lodge at Hambleden Lock on August 9 with his partner.

He said that he hadn’t seen a sign in Ferry Lane directly opposite the pub which said parking was restricted except in marked bays.

He appealed to Wokingham Borough Council claiming the singular sign was not sufficient to indicate a restriction.

Two chalkboard signs put up around the Flower Pot pub also directed drivers travelling to the pop-up restaurant to park in the Mill End car park.

Mr Francis said that the area surrounding the pub was rural in nature and that a reasonable person wouldn’t expect parking restrictions at the pub to apply to the rest of the countryside lane.

He said: “After that sign at the pub there is nothing further. In my mind, 300m is a long way from a sign when you have left the village and gone out to the countryside.

“They offer you paying half of the fine, I wouldn’t have bothered if I didn’t think I was justified, it wouldn’t be worth the two hours of my time.

“The restaurant is near Hambleden Lock and this was the nearest you can park.”

The Lockdown Lodge, which is located along the Thames Path near to Hambleden Lock, ran from Friday, July 18 to Monday, August 11.

Mr Francis said he knew of at least four other drivers who received penalty charge notices on the same day as him.

A spokeswoman for Wokingham Borough Council said it had issued 25 penalty charge notices for the period that the Lockdown Lodge was operating and that eight of those had received challenges.

Of the challenges, three had been paid and five remained unpaid.

The council declined to comment on whether the signage in the lane was sufficient, or if the area had been specifically targeted for parking fines throughout this period.