Last minute preparations are still being made for civil parking enforcement. On the afternoon of Wednesday, October 14 an employee of NSL was affixing a very small explanatory notice to the meter at the top of East Street, which outlined the circumstances in which a fine may be charged. The notice reads:
We may issue a penalty charge without notice if you:
- fail to park fully within a marked parking bay;
- park without a valid ticket clearly on display;
- are parked after your ticket has run out;
- are parked for longer than the maximum time allowed;
- park in a parking place or in part of a parking place at a time we tell you not to (for example if the parking place or part of it is suspended);
- park in a parking place not designated for your vehicle (for example a parking place for a motorcycle); or
- give your ticket to someone else or use it in a different parking place.
It is not clear (to the writer) how a phone-accessed permit can be displayed, when no physical ticket is issued. However, the technology is such that a photo of the vehicle taken by the enforcement officer checks with the central database and confirms whether or not a valid ticket has been purchased.
The enforcement officer told me that he is employed by NSL, part of Marston Holdings Ltd, which claims to be the UK's largest transportation and enforcement services company.
NSL states on its website that it works on behalf of local and central government, airports and the private sector across the UK, offering on-street parking services, enforcement, passenger transport, street and estate management, business process management and technical design consultancy services.
