Council defends tow policy

A national watchdog says the council, along with six others which have the power to tow away vehicles, could face legal dangers unless it is 'reasonable' in using its power to remove cars.

The National Parking Adjudication Service's said in its annual report - published this week- it was particularly concerned about cars being towed away at night when there is little public transport and the driver's safety could be at risk.

The service, which settles complaints about parking tickets outside London, received nine complaints about cars towed away by Blackpool Council, of which four were upheld. Some councils were criticised for not being able to defend appeals against them - although Blackpool did contest every appeal.

In total, the council dished out more than 58,000 parking tickets in 2004. Of those 126 were appealed.

Cllr Fred Jackson, Blackpool Council's urban environment portfolio holder, said: "In 2004 - our first year under the new parking legislation and the timescale quoted in the report - Blackpool Council towed away 765 cars because of parking breaches in comparison with the figures quoted for Bristol of 6,256.

"However things have got even better since then because people have got used to the system. So from March last year we only had to tow away 290 cars

"The criteria we use cover seven particular offences - cars illegally parked on bus stops, loading bays, parking bays which have been suspended temporarily because of road works for instance, kerb bars which require that area to be kept clear and residents' parking spaces where parking tickets have been issued on two consecutive days.

"We also tow away cars belonging to persistent offenders who have had five parking tickets however in these cases we wait 28 days while we send notification to the owners."

Unlike many other towns Blackpool Council does not have the power to clamp which is why serious offences can result in a car being towed away.