Good Samaritan landed with £600 motoring fine

By Lina Kurdi

A Good Samaritan was fined almost £600 for unknowingly driving through two Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) while on his way to donating life-saving convalescent plasma during the height of the pandemic.

Daniel Thurley, 49, of Daniels Road in Nunhead, was on his way to the Donor Centre at the Centrale Shopping Centre in Croydon in January last year.

But some time later he received a £65 fine through the post for driving through an LTN in Croydon, which he paid.

The fine was forwarded on by a former neighbour, as it had been sent to Mr Thurley’s previous address in Crofton Road, Camberwell.

The motorist thought that was the end of the matter, but last month he received a phone call from Marstons, a clamping firm, demanding a whopping £512.

The firm said the fee had been racked up after Mr Thurley had not paid a fine or answered letters regarding a further LTN breach – on the same day – in Dulwich Village.

The clamper threatened to remove Mr Thurley’s car, but Mr Thurley claimed that this was the first time he had heard about the Dulwich LTN fine.

Mr Thurley said: “My (former) neighbour was good at keeping letters for me, but no others had arrived, so she didn’t have any to pass on to me when I came to visit.

“I contacted Southwark council saying I’d never received any letters. They then sent me a letter with the PCN, and I realised that my old address had a typo in it. Instead of Crofton Road, they had it with a ‘G’ as Grofton Road.

“I had had no communication from them in 14 months until the phone call from the clamper.

“If I had known about the Dulwich fine, I would have paid it like I paid the Croydon fine, because I went through restricted routes. But a £65 fine turned into £512, which I didn’t even know about.

“My father had died of Covid in April 2020 and the plasma scheme was to help elderly people combat the virus in hospital.

“If my donations prevented another family going through what we did with my dad’s death, then it was worth donating as much as possible.”

A letter sent to Mr Thurley by Southwark Council stated: “I can confirm that all the notices were sent through first-class post at the address details provided by [Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency] DVLA.”

Pictured top: Daniel Thurley