Right then, since my OP, the plot has thickened somewhat.
eltonioni wrote:Some thoughts and advice from the hive mind please.
I received a parking ticket from a private car park operator the other day with my (quite distinctive) registration on another car miles away in Dartford and photos to prove it. No mistaking a Porsche for a Ford Mustang so the parking company quickly cancelled the ticket. This happened once before, on the QE Dartford Bridge crossing but with a Mercedes, and presumably the same chancer. Anyway, so far so good.
But they also advised me to report it to the police so I "won't be held liable for other offences committed by the vehicle". I can see the attraction that I won't be held liable but I also don't fancy having my numberplate marked for every panda car with an ANPR camera, so doing nothing sounds like the best plan.
Whaddyathink?
After some digging it seems like the Ford Mustang is legit, but it has an almost identical registration except that mine has a zero and theirs has an O but they used dodgy plate spacing to make it look just like mine.
Since the OP I've had five Penalty Charge Notices for not paying to use the Dartford Crossing, all with a photo of the aforementioned 'stang. After spending hours arguing the toss about the first three I've started sending them £150 "handling charge" invoices which increase to £300 if not paid in 14 days - guess where that idea came from!
The trouble is, Dart Chart is a Kafkaesque government quango who reply with "use our form to make representations against PCNs". I have no intention of playing that game for their screwups so I think it will end up in front of a magistrate with either them or me suing the other. I've tried a nice letter and a nasty letter, phone calls and emails, but they keep spitting out new PCNs so I'm going to keep spitting out invoices for handling them.
Any ideas on how to end the madness?
Middle East Peace Expert. Military strategist. Former economist and epidemiologist.
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