Driver’s car towed after seeing ‘redundant’ parking sign

Football coach’s car towed after he saw out-of-date parking sign, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Haringey Council has agreed to refund a football coach who complained over parking signs after his car was towed away during a tournament.

Shaz Anwar was told to pay £265 after parking in White Hart Lane on Sunday, 25th July to watch his football team play in a tournament at New River Sports Centre – despite signs by the road saying parking restrictions only applied from Monday to Saturday. 

Shaz – who said contacting the council had been a “nightmare” – was finally told he had parked in the White Hart Lane controlled parking zone (CPZ), which operates seven days a week.

But the football coach, who lives in Islington, said people who are not local would be unlikely to be aware of the CPZ.

Shaz said: “I was parked at New River Sports Centre. It is quite a long road, and there is a single yellow line that goes along the road and just keeps going. The time plate nearest my car said Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6.30pm.

“It was a Sunday. I thought, there’s no problem parking here. About midday, one of the mums came out and said ‘I’ve got a parking ticket on my car’. I thought I’d better go and check my car.

“I ran out and could not find my car anywhere. I thought, has someone stolen my car?”

Shaz found out his vehicle was one of “three or four cars” from the tournament that had been clamped and towed away. He had to pay £200 to have his car released and received a £65 penalty charge notice for parking in the CPZ.

“Getting in touch with them [the council] to check anything was an absolute nightmare,” Shaz said. “They would not clarify if they had received my appeal. They said it can take 56 days to respond to an appeal.

“£265 is a lot of money to me, to see my football team go and play in a tournament, and midway through the tournament I realise my car has been towed away.”

A council spokesperson said: “Like the majority of London boroughs we have introduced a CPZ to reduce traffic congestion and protect the parking needs of residents and their visitors.

“We have a number of signs across the borough to inform people on the parking restrictions. In this case Mr Anwar was parked within a CPZ, in which there is large sign on entry to inform drivers of the restrictions in place.

“Upon review of Mr Anwar’s case we have identified that nearby to where the vehicle was parked there were two yellow waiting signs. The signs are now considered to be redundant and have been removed. In view of this, we will not be taking any further action with Mr Anwar.

“We do urge any residents or visitors coming into the borough to abide by the parking restrictions in place, of which information can be found on our website: https://www.haringey.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-travel/parking.”