We began examining decriminalised parking as a result of the Metric Martyrs Judgment ... where Sunderland greengrocer, Steve Thoburn, had been convicted of selling bananas by the pound instead of the kilo.

The Judge, Lord Justice Laws had stated that we now have a 'hierarchy of laws' with some, including the European Communities Act 1972 (which allowed the implementation of an EU Directive that made it a criminal offence to use imperial measures) having a special 'constitutional' status.

Also included as a 'constitutional' statute was the Bill of Rights Act 1689. Upon examination we found that if the principle of the Metric Martyrs Judgment was applied to other 'ordinary' acts then we would be able to create a conflict which would help expose the flawed judgment.

The 1991 Road Traffic Act which decriminalised parking offences, provided that conflict. One of the provisions of the Bill of Rights is that no-one can be fined except by a court. Decriminalised parking does not allow access to a court and the 'fine' is created by a local authority. The story was covered recently in the Christopher Booker Column in the Sunday Telegraph.

However, many local authorities are jumping on the bandwagon as they see decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) as an easy way of raising revenue, effectively a stealth tax on the motorist, now raising £970m annually.

Investigations revealed that Sunderland City Council, whose number of parking tickets increased tenfold when NCP took over enforcement from the Police and Traffic Wardens, it transpired, had committed major technical errors when setting up the DPE regime, aside from the constitutional argument.

In their DPE application to the Department for Transport they had simply given 'reassurances' to the Secretary of State that ALL the lines, signs and plates and necessary Traffic Regulation Orders would be correct and in place before commencing DPE. What has been exposed is that they were not correct and there are still many thousands of errors. This means that the Secretary of State was misled into giving Sunderland City Council the power to commence enforcement and also means that the Penalty Charge Notices issued by NCP could be considered unlawful. The current situation is that tens of thousands of pounds has already had to be refunded to motorists in the City and it is likely that the amount of money to be repaid will run into millions.

It may be the case that more serious criminal charges follow because Council Officers and NCP were aware in 2003 that they had issued PCNs unlawfully on Taxi Ranks and unlawfully to Blue Badge Holders on Loading Bays. The money was not repaid until we forced their hand.

It is stated in the 1996 Theft (Amendment) Act, that it is an offence to obtain money / money orders by deception, and there has already been an admission by the City Council to over 800 offences of unlawfully issuing PCNs and failing to repay that money for over two years.

A  fomal complaint has been made to Northumbria Police.

The 'Sunderland situation' is not unique and there is evidence of wrongdoing coming in from other local authority areas.

One particular local authority, Rochdale Council, had issued 26,000 PCNs with incorrect wording. Our campaign team exposed this after being contacted by a motorist over a single ticket.

The issue of DPE is one which is going to cause very serious concerns for the Government and the local authorities as the motorists' rebellion grows and as the evidence of malpractice pours in.

As a result it was decided that this information should be shared with other motorists and to create a well-funded operation that could continue to uncover and expose this malpractice and create a better deal for the motorists of this country where they are treated with respect and not contempt by the authorities.

Friday 4th November 2005 was the beginning of the serious national exposure when Tonight with Trevor Macdonald on ITV reported  'crucial information for all motorists.' The programme addressed motorists fighting back against misused and misapplied laws. In particular it addressed 'decriminalised' parking which was created initially under the 1991 Road Traffic Act in order to find a solution to errant parking in London. As more local authorities around the country begin changing over to a more 'profitable' enforcement system which dispenses with proper access to justice, the motorist is now beginning to fight back and say 'enough is enough.'

The programme brief goes on ... Sunderland campaigner, Neil Herron is featured heavily in the parking fine section of the programme highlighting Sunderland Council's alleged 'unlawful' parking enforcement regime and how the campaigner and his team are fighting back and to such an extent that many local authorities have already been forced to pay back considerable sums of money with many millions more to follow.

More recently Decriminalised Parking Enforcement came under scrutiny by the House of Commons Transport Committee who were pretty scathing of the 'parking industry.'

There has been a greate deal of press and media covereage over the past few years exposing what is now perceived by many to be a lawless and unaccountable industry.

In June 2007 the parking 'industry' finally recognised Parking Appeals as the leading voice of the motorist and Neil Herron addressed Transport for London's Enforcement Conference ... very uncomfortable listening for many in the audience.