Last Sunday, I took my son to his baseball practice session. Yes, I'm in the UK and yes, I said baseball, but that's the subject of another post, another day. The practice takes place in Hemel Hempstead. Now I worked in Hemel for over 10 years, so I know it well, or so I thought.
Not wanting to hang around for 3 hours and not able to join in thanks to having tweaked my hamstring playing football that morning, I decided to head into town, to find somewhere to sit and read my book. An old friend/colleague suggested a few places, so I drove around a little, looking to see what was where and also to find the best place to park. The Water Gardens car park now charges to park 7 days a week (!), so I turned back out of it and carried onwards. Eventually found somewhere, parked and walked into the Marlowes shopping centre. Spent a pleasant hour browsing around Maplins, then sat down at a cafe to read.
When the post dropped through the letter box today, there's an envelope postmarked Hertfordshire Country Council (PO Box 1049, Northampton!!!). Ticket for driving in a bus lane. Where there never was a bus lane before.
£30 down the drain because I didn't spot a sign that, according to Google Street View, is hidden behind a lamp post. I'm taking a camera with me next Sunday to see if it's visible.
Update: I'd forgotten about this post. Weirdly, about a year later, I received a letter from the council saying that the enforcement had been illegal, and I was due a refund of the penalty paid. A cheque duly arrived a few weeks later.
Update: I'd forgotten about this post. Weirdly, about a year later, I received a letter from the council saying that the enforcement had been illegal, and I was due a refund of the penalty paid. A cheque duly arrived a few weeks later.
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