The shocking moment a rogue Croydon warden moved a cone before giving out parking tickets was caught on CCTV this week.
The traffic officer gave £130 fines to at least ten people on Clifton Road, Selhurst, after appearing to move the cone which prohibited parking.
Outraged residents believe the warden then took pictures before illegally fining them.
Laura Donohoe (pictured), 39, was ticketed along with her mother Elizabeth, 72.
She said: “It feels like the local authority are quite happy to use fraudulent methods to steal money off hard working people.
“And [they] terrorise older residents who don’t understand how to use the appeal system.”
But after a neighbour told her a warden moved a traffic cone, Donohoe asked a neighbour for CCTV footage.
It revealed a warden arrived by moped and moved one of the cones to the opposite side of the road around 8:19am on 11 October.
He and a helper who arrived by car, and parked on a double yellow line, then allegedly issued multiple fines before the cone was moved back.
Donohoe said it was particularly difficult for her mother, a pensioner who had not received a parking ticket for 30 years and was extra careful to avoid parking fines.
Anthony Bales, 81, received two £130 fines, and said he would go to prison before paying them.
“I’m in a situation now where every three months I’m getting a parking ticket because their signage is rubbish,” he said.
Millie, a single mother who was also ticketed, said: “It’s difficult for me, I was literally crying when I got the ticket, I was appalled but I was more worried how I was going to pay it.
“You trust these things don’t you – you just don’t question it in a country like this, you think everyone’s honest.”
Cones were originally placed late on 10 October as contractors were painting yellow lines nearby, prohibiting parking on one side of the road.
A Croydon council spokesperson said: “We take these allegations of misconduct by civil enforcement officers extremely seriously.
“We are currently investigating this issue and we will not hesitate to take the strongest possible action should they be confirmed, and any parking tickets issued incorrectly will be cancelled immediately.”
Croydon Council incentivised traffic wardens to issue tickets in return for overtime pay, according to an April 2021 report by auditors Mazars.
It agreed to suspend the practice following the report.
The council filed a Section 114 notice in November 2020, effectively declaring bankruptcy, though they since ended the notice.
Donohoe said: “The incident reflects the value system within the council and the fact that they have gone bankrupt shows it is cancerous from the top down.”
Featured Image Credit: Laura Donohoe
