A Tenby resident who has appealed against a parking ticket issued after his displayed permit fell off his car windscreen, has pledged to go to jail rather than pay the fine.

Mr. Ron Murphy, of Trafalgar Road, was issued with the 'penalty charge notice' recently by one of Pembrokeshire County Council's enforcement officers, who deemed that his resident's permit was not visible on his vehicle.

However, Mr. Murphy claims that the paid for permit, which allows him to park in the residents bays in his street, had fallen off the windscreen and was still on display on his dashboard.

"I've challenged the ticket and explained what happened, but the appeal has been turned down, which I find hard to take," said Mr. Murphy.

"The permit was still on display on my dashboard. If it falls off the windscreen because the sticky holder that the county council has supplied me with, won't stay on, then that's not my problem. I've had to use sellotape to keep it on now.

"I've had a parking permit every year for the past eight years, so I don't see why the county council can't just check their records to show that this is the case and it's just unfortunate that it had fallen off the window; it's common sense in my opinion."

Mr. Murphy is also disgruntled that he had to send his written appeal against the 'penalty charge notice' to Denbighshire County Council in Rhyl, which is stipulated in Pembrokeshire County Council's guidelines for challenging any parking fine issued by their enforcement officers.

"How can someone who works up in Rhyl judge an individual case for someone who lives in Tenby? It's ridiculous, they don't know the street or area and don't know the circumstances," he remarked.

He also believes that the county council are wrong to issue more permits than there are actual resident bays on a street and has taken legal advice on the issue.

He ahas also written to MP Simon Hart on the matter, as well as contacting local county councillor Mike Evans with his plight.

"On my street alone, how can the county council get away with selling 31 permits for 14 spaces?" queried Mr. Murphy. "It's fraud in my opinion; they are selling permits for something that they can't supply.

"I was one of the people who launched a petition to get resident bays introduced on this street years ago, but this is not what I signed up for. The whole scheme needs a review," he stressed

A response from Simon Hart, who had contacted the county council on behalf of Mr. Murphy, stated that he was concerned that in some areas of Tenby and across the county, permit holders exceeded available parking spaces, and residents were still not able to park near their properties, despite having paid for a permit.

Mr. Hart also said that parking in Tenby and across the county was an issue that he would be bringing to the attention of the county council's chief executive, who he was due to meet with soon.

"I don't know what the next step is now, but I won't pay the fine, I will go to jail first before I pay the county council any more money," added Mr. Murphy.

CAPTION.

Trafalgar Road resident Ron Murphy is disgruntled that his appeal against a penalty charge notice has been turned down, despite proof that he has a resident's parking permit.