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RESIDENTS received an unexpected Christmas surprise in the form of parking tickets.
Wokingham borough’s traffic wardens were working on Boxing Day – Saturday, December 26.
When the holiday was established in 1871, it would be moved to the first working day after December 26 if it fell on a weekend. However, in recent years, it has become accepted practise to refer to the day after Christmas as Boxing Day, regardless of whether it was on a weekend or not.
One resident took to social media asking how Boxing Day is not a bank holiday, with commentators saying that Wokingham Borough Council was ‘underhand and mean spirited’, another felt it was ‘disgusting’ and a fourth said it was a kick in the teeth at a time when people were already struggling.
Some did defend the council, pointing out that the Saturday was a normal working day and that the wardens were just doing their job.
Parking website Appealnow.com has a section dedicated to the subject after tickets were issued on Boxing Day 2009, which was also on a Saturday. It offers a template letter for anyone who was ticketed to send to the parking appeal.
It refers to parking signs that “free parking on public and bank holidays”, pointing out that in a case heard in 2010, a parking adjudicator deemed that the words were “sufficiently ambiguous to confuse a motorist when parking on a Boxing Day that falls on a Saturday as to whether charges are required. If the authority wishes to enforce charges on Boxing Day when it falls on a Saturday, the machine should clearly state so”.
The issue has also been queried by Wokingham Town Council leader Cllr Imogen Shepherd-DuBey who said that she was dismayed people received the tickets, pointing out that as the borough council offered free parking in its car parks on the Saturdays running up to Christmas, many residents would have been led to believe Boxing Day would also be free.
“The official Boxing Day bank holiday was Monday, December 28, which meant that many people were given tickets on Saturday for failing to pay the full parking fees,” she said.
“In a disgraceful lack of communication, there were no signs or warning from Wokingham Borough Council that this would happen and there should have been posters in each car park, clearly showing what dates were free.
“We feel that these parking fines should be refunded, and we need to make sure that this does not happen again.”
She also wanted to know if the council would treat Christmas Day 2021, which falls on a Saturday, in the same way.
There will be bank holidays on Monday, December 27 and Tuesday, December 28, to accommodate this.
“If the Liberal Democrats were to gain control of Wokingham Borough Council in 2021, we would make sure these important dates were respected and charges would not apply to Christmas Day or Boxing Day, no matter which day of the week they fell on,” she added.
A Wokingham Borough Council spokesperson said: “Charges in our car parks apply from Monday to Saturday except for bank holidays. While we get a bank holiday for Christmas Day and Boxing Day they do not always fall on December 25 and 26, as was the case this year.
“The council had already made parking free in all its car parks on the three Saturdays leading up to Christmas in order to assist local businesses and residents in what has been a very difficult period.”
“If people feel that the penalty charge notice has been incorrectly served then we would encourage them to challenge it through the normal processes, outlined on the PCN itself or through our website.”
