A DISABLED man has won his battle to overturn a parking fine thanks to photo evidence.

Clive Robinson's victory came after he successfully argued that the 'no waiting' restrictions were poorly marked.

Mr Robinson, from Tyldesley, was furious when he received a parking ticket after leaving his car in Vernon Street, Leigh, last September.

The 54-year-old former photographer had correctly displayed his orange disabled badge which allowed him to park on the single yellow-lined side of the road for up to three hours.

But when he returned to his Toyota Starlet he found a ticket because of a 'no loading restriction order' which means no drivers are allowed to park on that stretch of the road at all.

Mr Robinson, of Oak Street, argued that the road markings were not clear enough for drivers to spot and took photos of the faded chevrons before refusing to pay the £25 ticket.

In January Wigan Council's engineering department repainted the road markings and Mr Robinson took another set of photos to prove the difference in visibility.

His case came before Leigh magistrates on March 21 when he was found guilty because he had parked in a 'no waiting' zone, but he was given an absolute discharge after the magistrates looked at the 'before' and 'after' pictures of Vernon Street and agreed they could not see the markings.

Mr Robinson, who set up the Signpost Advisory Service in Tyldesley last October, said: "It was the first time I'd ever parked in Vernon Street.

"I consider my orange badge a privilege and not a right, but I am very angry with the traffic warden and the council.

"There is no mechanism for querying parking tickets other than to go to court which is a dramatic course of action.

"It should never have reached court in the first place.

"I ended up paying out far more than £25 in the cost of five sets of photos for the magistrates to look at, so it was an expensive point to make, but worth it.

"Every time I passed Vernon Street between last September and January I saw disabled drivers who had been booked for parking in the same spot and that is not fair."

A spokesman from Wigan Council said: "The 'no waiting' area was marked by chevrons and there was also a notice.

"The lines were repainted in January as part of our regular programme of repairs of which there were quite a backlog because of the wet weather last autumn.

"The council feels it was clearly marked, but obviously the magistrates felt differently."