White lines set for a repaint after disabled motorist fined for 'parking on the huh' in Bury St Emunds
White lines marking out parking bays in a prime town centre location look set to be repainted after a motorist was fined – for parking ‘on the huh’.
David Thomas, 69, picked up a fine for £25 outside the Angel Hotel, in Bury St Edmunds, on October 5.
Mr Thomas, who is disabled, parked his Honda Jazz after finding a disabled parking bay and spent a couple of hours in town while meeting his brother, Brian, 52, for coffee.
But when the former sales and marketing director returned to his car, he found a ticket under his windscreen wiper which said he had contravened Code 24, by ‘not parking correctly within the markings of the bay or space’.
Mr Thomas, from Whepstead, said that though he felt the fine was a fair as he had ‘broken the law’, he would like to warn other motorists about the difficulty of parking in that location, because the lines were so faint, and broken, they were ‘hardly visible’.
“I’d come into town to meet my brother for coffee as we hadn’t seen each other for two months due to Covid,” said Mr Thomas.
“When I got back to the car I was surprised and disappointed to find I had a ticket. I didn’t know what I had done wrong.
“After looking closely, admittedly my wheels were on the lines, or what you could see of the lines, anyway, and I was slightly on the huh. But there were no other cars around.
“It’s also quite tricky to even to see the word ‘Disabled’, marking the bays, which are barely legible, and which really defeats the point having specific bays for disabled people. I just want to warn other motorists to be careful.”
Parking tickets at the site are issued by West Suffolk Council. The white lines are the responsibility of Suffolk Council Council.
A spokesman, for West Suffolk Council, said: “There is an appeals process if anyone thinks they have been issued a fine unfairly.
"Our patrol supervisor has inspected the line markings and said they are enforceable but will request refreshment from Suffolk County Council as routine upkeep.”
A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council, said: “We are expecting a request by West Suffolk Council to refresh the markings.”
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