Expensive Cars Targeted for Tow

england

If you are driving an expensive vehicle in this English town, you had better make sure that you park legally.
The officials there are being accused of purposely discriminating between expensive cars and junkers when towing away parking offenders.

A Range Rover belonging to Matthew Steeples was towed away, forcing him to pay £150 to retrieve it on top of the £50 fixed penalty fine. But his friend Ed Rigg was only given a parking ticket for his ageing Vauxhall Astra delivery van.
[..]
Mr Steeples said that a parking enforcement officer at the council’s pound told him: “We always take the more expensive car as we know they’ll pay up.

“People with old vehicles aren’t worth bothering about as they won’t pay to get them back.”

Mr Steeples, 26, who runs a drinks firm, said: “The man on duty at the pound was quite open about it when I asked why my car had been towed but not Ed’s van.

A spokesperson blamed it on too few road service tow providers, not a blatant act of discrimination.

Illyana Reeves, a spokeswoman for Hammersmith & Fulham parking services, denied the council singles out expensive vehicles.

She said: “That should not have been said to Mr Steeples. It is untrue.

“What normally happens is that we have got very few tow trucks. One truck arrives and takes a vehicle and then they will come back for the next one if there is not a second truck available.

“But sometimes the owner of the vehicle comes back before the tow truck returns.”
(Source)

Posted on Wednesday, April 4th, 2007 at 10:29 am In Road Service  

Tags: , ,

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.