Those Car Parks

I've just discovered an e-mail address for the people at Darlington Borough Council who deal with car parking (payment.queries@darlington.gov.uk).

Although unlikely, it's not impossible that Mrs Blunt will one day wake up and take it into her head that we must visit that particular town's branch of Evans which (for reasons I perhaps don't need to go into here) is one of her favourite shops.

I thought I had better fire off a missive to the officials who 'own' the Car Parks there, if only to ask them about the measurements for the bays in the different car parks, and to ensure we'll have no problems parking the Austin Ambassador. In the interests of public service, I'll let you know the results.

When The Line's Not So Fine

How pertinent that it should be the day after the English local council elections that I read the story of campaigner, Nigel Allen.

According to a newspaper report, Nigel's wife was stung by a £60 parking fine when she accidentally parked her car outside the white lines on a council-owned car park in Darlington, County Durham. Nigel says his wife had parked next to a huge 4x4, and the remaining space was so tight she had to park a couple of inches over the line.

But plucky Nigel Allen isn't letting it lie. He took his tape measure to the car park and discovered that the width of each bay was just 2.1 metres. Thanks to the power of the internet, Nigel found that the Government had issued guidance that bays should be a minimum of 2.4 metres wide. He's challenging the fine - and good luck to him!

What really got my dander up was the reported comments from 'A spokesman' for Darlington Borough Council:

"The figure of 2.4 metres is not Government legislation, it is only guidance. The car park belongs to us and we can set the spaces out the way we choose."

I sincerely hope whichever wretched 'spokesman' uttered those words is made to eat them with a hearty plateful of tarmacadam someday. I could almost be persuaded to pay £60 to watch such a spectacle.