2 parking tickets in one day!

[goldenharvest]

DH and I met up at a local beauty spot and did a 5 mile walk and took some photos. Got back to our respective cars to collect kids and they both had parking tickets (cars not kids). The area is pretty isolated, Ladybower reservoir, and the 'car park' was literally some waste ground. No signs anywhere. We have taken photos and will contest them, but is this even legal?

Sorry don't mean to pile on but laughing at the idea of Ladybower being an isolated place that nobody visits!

Even if you haven’t been somewhere I think double yellow lines are a fairly universal sign for ‘don’t park here’?
Our car parks are empty at the moment but people are parking in front of the beach blocking buses from getting around a bend. They also didn’t see the massive car park sign.

At least you know for next time.

thought this area was a 'car park' as in parking place
There were double yellow lines

“ I know a grass verge isn't a car park. I didn't say it was, just the it was all we could see that we could park on, so thought this area was a 'car park' as in parking place. We didn't see the real car park otherwise would have parked there. Never visited before .”

But it was double yellow lines?!

They do have a Facebook page you could ask, they had lots of issues just after the first lockdown.

It's an isolated place that has:
Hills
A big reservoir
Multiple signed car parks

There's literally nothing else for you to get distracted by. If two of you can rock up to ladybower and genuinely not notice any of those clues I'm kinda worried about your driving.
Though it sounds more like you didn't think the 'waste ground' carparks were worthy of your money and that you thought it was quiet enough to get away with it. They're rural car parks, you're not going to get ncp facilities. The money raised goes into maintaining the area for visitors.

Did you walk all the way around? If you did you must've seen the big car park and visitors' centre..

You actually got ticketed for parking on double yellow lines and it was 2 for 2 cars not 2 in one day!

@goldenharvest

I know a grass verge isn't a car park. I didn't say it was, just the it was all we could see that we could park on, so thought this area was a 'car park' as in parking place. We didn't see the real car park otherwise would have parked there. Never visited before .

For the umpteenth time. If we'd seen a car park or anywhere 'normal' to park, or had visited it on a previous occasions and knew where the car parking was we would have parked and paid.

It was an overcast dreary day in November and we hardly saw a human being let alone a car park, so just assumed this reservoir was some isolated place no one visited. No idea it was Disney for walkers.

We'll pay the fines of course. FWIW our local council have suspended all parking charges everywhere. And you are allowed to travel reasonable distances to exercise and it was near DDs school so we didn't travel any great distance.

You assumed it was an isolated place no one visited? Did the Wikipedia page, tripadvisor page and visitpeakdistrict page give no clues? Alongside its location on the A57 a major route across the Peak District (hardly isolated) and its well known history re: the flooding of the original village site Plus when you google it the carparks are clearly marked.

If you're close enough that it's local to your child's school there's no way you didn't realise it was a touristy spot. And even if you didn't that doesn't exempt you from knowing that double yellow lines apply

Don't be too hasty paying up, even if it was issued 'correctly' in that you shouldn't have been parked there, there are many t's that need crossed and i's dotted correctly for it to stick and surprisingly many many councils and private firms make an absolute rip roaring cock of it even though it is their day job.

pop over to PePPiPoo and ask for help in the correct subforum (council or private firm). You've 2 tickets in play so well worthwhile having a go & nothing to lose either.

Remember, 'the Driver did/ the Driver received' or 'the Keeper received/ I, the registered keeper, received'. Nobody needs to know who the unidentified driver who may or may not have entered into a parking contract is especially if it is a PPC that is trying to make an arse of ascribing keeper liability.

We don't live nearby, it is near DDs school which is in the next county and a 45 min drive from where we live.

On a miserable November day it was pretty deserted. We saw 3 people in 2 1/2 hours. We didn't research the trip, just went on a whim. As we'd never been before we were more intent on finding the place and somewhere to park we missed the signs.

We didn't see any signs about parking or a real car park. Please stop calling me a liar. It was a genuine mistake, with no intention to not pay, and we are paying for our day out to the tune of £70.

Er, Yes, it is 2 in one day. We have to pay 2 fines, for 2 cars, we are a family, Santa won't pay one for us. I don't quite see the point of the comment?

DH has appealed, but I don't hold out much hope.

If we'd wanted to knowingly park illegally we could have parked one of the cars on the double yellow lines and stuck DDs disabled badge on the dashboard, but we'd never do that because she wasn't with us. We would have avoided one ticket at least.

The fact we didn't even consider doing this I think, is proof we wouldn't defraud the bloody council of its measly parking tickets, had we been aware.

Hopefully the appeal will be accepted as it was during lockdown.

Why did you go in separate cars? @goldenharvest

This gets weirder and weirder.

Your title implies that you've been caught, twice, in the same day parking illegally, when, in truth, this was one sweep by the parking warden, you just took two cars and parked both of them illegally.
You've gone from it being a car park, to admitting it was a grass verge by double yellow lines.
You've gone from it being an isolated place to being a popular tourist attraction.
You've gone from it being right by the dcs' school to being 45 mins away (not sure why you took 2 cars to do that).
You've said you've never heard of it (being a popular place for people to go and walk) , yet you've decided to drive for 3/4 hour to get there.

None of this makes sense.
Just pay the fines and think more carefully about where you park next time.

@switswooo

Hopefully the appeal will be accepted as it was during lockdown.

Lockdown doesn't mean you can just do as you please.

OP I too can't understand how you didn't realise there would be a car park or two around the reservoir. Most places that are somewhat remote - even if they aren't especially touristy - have at least one visitors car park. I had a cursory look on Google Maps and the only double yellow roads I could see around were either roads to a car park or were signed saying not to park there, so I've no idea how you both missed it.

Pay the fines, 'I didn't know' isn't a proper defence.

Hopefully the appeal will be accepted as it was during lockdown.

No, they started issuing more fines because of the lockdown. The Peaks have been packed all summer and this is one of their tactics to try and discourage people in the area.

@fifty. Parent meeting at DDs school. Separate cars as I then had to leave to collect DS from local school.

@BackforGood Can you read? We were together, we are a family unit, and as a family unit it was 2 tickets. I didn't 'imply' anything, it was a factual statement. DDs school is 45 minutes drive away from where we live. We were together in separate cars because I'd taken DS to his local school. We had a parents meeting at DDs school. Afterwards we decided to visit the reservoir on a friends recommendation. We decided we'd be safer going for a walk in the open air rather than mooching around shops and cafes for the day. Didn't know Ladybower was a big tourist attraction with real car parks. I did not say it was a car park, I put inverted commas, which, in case you didn't know, means it's was what we thought was the parking area. It also was isolated and virtually empty (of people and cars) on the day we were there.

We took photos all around where we parked to show there was no signs re parking. We were unaware grassy verges near double yellow lines were an illegal parking area. We do now.

For the hundredth time, we didn't know there were car parks. We didn't know it was popular. We don't know the area at all. It was a spur of the moment, expensive mistake. We will pay the fines.

Do you want to know the colour of my underwear now you have my personal itinerary?

Why would you be wandering round shops OP? Aren't they all closed where you are?

And you may not have seen signs but you did see double yellows?
If there were double yellows on a street outside someone's house would you think it fair game to park on their driveway because there aren't any signs specially for it?

Couldn't move for people!!!

M&S is open. Cafes are open. We needed the exercise.

@Titsinknicks Would you park in someone's driveway? Have you never parked on a grass verge?

I've said we were unaware of the grass verge double lines rule. We do now....sigh... don't worry I'll say it again if necessary and people can't read.

Ooh I didn’t realise the grass verge had double yellow lines! Have you got a pic OP?

I don't think I have actually... Not that I can remember anyway

We parked on the wide grass verges near the road that had the double lines

The verge is usually just part of a highway that hasn't been covered in tarmac, so still considered part of the road as far as motoring law is concerned.

Years ago in the Lake District, my husband got fined for obstructing the highway when parked fully on the verge. Conversely, you can get fined for the same thing if you obstruct the verge to stop people parking on it.

What's the argument. You parked on double yellows. Just because it's on the verge doesn't meant the double yellows don't apply. I don't understand why it matters how many people were there.

Just because you didn't see a car park doesn't give you the right to park illegally.