Let off this time

When we visited Sale (near Manchester) in early December, Pam and I hired a car for the ten days.

Each day we drove from our hotel in Altrincham to my daughter’s house and parked on the street.

One one side, only residents can park and have to display a permit. On the other side, you can park for three hours but any longer and you either have to display a Resident’s Permit or a Visitor’s Permit bought from the Town Hall.

My daughter bought a book of Visitor’s Permits for our visit but I got distracted and forgot to put one in the car. Lo and behold, a warden clocked my car on arrival and returned three hours later to check if it was still there.  He or she must have been rubbing their hands with glee as the penalty notice was printed. A £50 fine reduced to £25 if paid within 10 days.

My son-in law appealed on my behalf explaining that I was from Spain and was not aware of the consequences of over parking. The case was put on hold pending an investigation.

On my return I had heard nothing so, rather than just ignoring it, I sent an email with copies of the Fixed Penalty Notice and the Visitor’s Permit attached. I then sent the actual documents by post.

The other day, over two moths after the event, I got an email to say that I had been let off this time but not to do it again. Once bitten, twice shy as we would say – I will ensure that it never happens again and even if it does, I will be in a different car!