‘Notorious’ driver has car taken away by council for failing to pay 100 parking tickets

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A driver has had their car confiscated after failing to pay more than 100 parking and traffic fines.

The motorist, from Plumstead, had their car seized by agents working with Bexley council after it was found in Roseacre Road, Bexley, on December 7.

A Bexley council spokeswoman said the “persistent evader” had collected numerous fines for offences around Bexleyheath since September 2021.

According to the statement, the driver was fined for parking outside parking spaces, on yellow lines, on the pavement and outside schools.

The spokeswoman also said the driver had parked in disabled parking spaces and electric vehicle charging spaces.

She said the “notorious” driver had not paid to park, stopped in yellow box junctions and had driven down bus-only streets.

The driver’s car had previously been clamped in November, but agents found the clamp forcibly removed when they returned to take the car away.

Councillor Peter Craske, Bexley council’s cabinet member for places, said: “Over the past 15 months this motorist committed the same contraventions repeatedly and went to extreme lengths to dodge paying the penalty charges.

“This person clearly has a blatant disregard for the rules of the road and the safety of others.”

He said that the actions of the driver would not be tolerated and the council would work with its contractors to seize vehicles and recover debt collected from traffic and parking fines.

Cllr Craske added: “I applaud the council officers involved and our partners, Newlyn PLC, for tracking down this careless driver’s car and taking it off the road, which I’m sure was a time-consuming and very difficult task.”

The car seized by Bexley council was clamped and taken to Newlyn’s pound by a tow truck. If the owner is unable to pay the fines, the car will be auctioned to recover the debt.

(Picture: Alex Borland/Creative Commons)