Council tries to revoke man's parking permit after 20 years - but he wins battle

Richard Payne spent £360 on permits since moving to the property in Strood, Kent, in 2001. But in December, he and all other residents in the street were told they could no longer purchase permits as it was deemed "a private road"

A pensioner has emerged victorious in a battle against his local council after it attempted to revoke his parking permit that he had held for 20 years.

Richard Payne, 72, has been buying an annual parking permit for the last two decades, allowing him to park his car within his postcode area. However, in December, all residents living on Florence Street in Strood, Kent were informed they could no longer purchase permits due to the street being classified as "a private road".

Medway Council claimed locals should never have been entitled to permits and this oversight had gone unnoticed for 20 years due to "a human error". Mr Payne said the sudden change left him "stranded" and with "no choice but to break the law" by parking his car illegally where it had always been parked.

He said: "It had proved impossible because the only place I could find to park was a road near me which is on a hill. But my wife could not walk there so I had to bring the car round to the road opposite our house each time so she could get in."

Mr Payne decided to challenge the permit revocation and following an investigation, the Local Government Ombudsman found that the council had been at fault.

However, since his permit expired in April, Mr Payne still had to endure months waiting for this decision - which really took a toll. The pensioner said: "The findings were that they [the council] originally said it was an audit error."

After a blunder by Medway Council left residents without parking permits, Mr Payne has been promised £100 compensation for the stress caused. The council must also give all affected locals a free parking permit for a year.

Despite his win, Mr Payne feels no joy, saying: "I don’t feel any satisfaction really. The tone of the letters and the dismissive way I was treated was just a shame."

He added, "There was no effort at all to resolve it." He doesn't want to gloat, stating: "I’m not triumphant about this, I don’t want to hold banners up."

Instead, he sees it as a cautionary tale for councils, remarking: "It’s just a lesson for any council that you really need to do your homework before you start chucking your weight around - which is what they were doing."

A spokesperson from Medway Council admitted the mistake, saying: "Due to an administrative error, eligibility for a residential parking permit was incorrectly revoked and a complaint was upheld by the Local Government Ombudsman."

They continued, "As a result, we have compensated the resident and provided an annual residential parking permit free of charge."

The council expressed regret, adding: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies for the error and the inconvenience and distress this has caused."