Between January and October last year Swindon Borough Council scrapped 448 parking fines on appeal.
This amount is over 25% of the total parking charges appealed (1,769).
Reports in the national press today show that if you live in Basingstoke, your appeal against your parking charge would see you walk away with the ticket ripped up in over 95% of cases.
A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “We only issue Penalty Charge Notices to drivers who do not adhere to the town’s parking restrictions, but we have fair and transparent cancellation guidance, which is available online. We will uphold an appeal against a parking ticket if there are legitimate grounds for doing so.
“We ensure all our signage and restrictions are correct, but there are various reasons why a parking ticket may be rescinded and these can be as simple as a parking ticket falling off a dashboard. The important point to note is that there is a well-established and independent appeals process for anyone to use if they wish to challenge why they were ticketed.
“Further guidance on the enforcement and cancellation of penalty charge notices is available on our website: www.swindon.gov.uk/parking”
Although Swindon Borough Council are in the bottom 25 councils across England and Wales when it comes to scrapping penalty charges on appeal they are by far not the worst in the country.
That accolade goes to Runnymede Borough Council. Of the 1,011 parking charges appealed only 93 were scrapped, a measly 9.3%!!
