Drivers at a Black Country town centre car park are underpaying and getting tickets because of an obscured sign, it was claimed today.

One motorist has already taken Walsall Council to a tribunal and had his £50 fine quashed after parking in Day Street.

Motorists using the pay-and-display car park claim the full charge list is being partially covered by the machine itself. They say they have mistakenly paid the Sunday fees, which are clearly visible, and been given tickets.

Richard Law was originally hit with a ticket after attending a meeting with colleagues in Walsall town centre in April and paid what he believed to be the day-long charge of £3.
From the side that he approached the machine, half of the sign was obscured and he was unaware he had paid the Sunday rather than the standard £5 weekday fee.

He was then issued with a penalty charge notice.

But the 40-year-old, of Thoresby Croft, Dudley, said five other colleagues had also mistakenly paid the same lower charge. Three had realised and paid the £5 on top while the others were hit with the penalty charge notices. The account manager said: “It was not clear at all. It is no coincidence that me and my colleagues all made the same mistake.”

And in her judgement at the parking tribunal in Birmingham, adjudicator Joanne Richards agreed.

“The position and prominence of the weekday tariff is insufficient to make it clear to motorists,” she said.