Croydon mayor refuses to apologise over parking row

Croydon's mayor has said he will not apologise to a resident who had a disabled parking bay painted around his legally parked car, leading to four fines.

CCTV footage shared on social media showed a contractor measuring and painting lines around a car which had been parked on an unrestricted road outside the owner's home whilst he went on holiday.

The owner, from New Addington, south London, who did not wish to be named, said mayor Jason Perry's response "was disgraceful".

Croydon Council previously "apologised for the confusion" and confirmed that "the tickets were cancelled a week before the video was uploaded to social media".

Four penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued between 22 and 26 November following the bay's construction on 17 November.

At a full council meeting on 10 December, New Addington North Labour councillor Kola Agboola pressed the mayor for a public apology and explanation.

Perry acknowledged a mistake had been made but said painting bays around parked cars was "fairly common practice".

The car owner told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) he only posted the video online because he had previously had issues with the council over parking.

Agboola said the incident had unleashed "a wave of online abuse" against himself, local residents and the parking warden. He demanded assurances that similar incidents would not happen again.

He also asked whether the car owner would have been fined unjustly if he had not shared the footage, and how many similar cases had affected "innocent motorists across Croydon".

Responding, the mayor said: "I guess the answer is no, no and no."

He reiterated that the owner was not fined because the tickets "were not followed through".

"There is no need to issue an apology because it was dealt with. This is fairly routine," he added.

He said bays were often painted around parked vehicles when spaces needed to be installed.

"If we are painting disabled bays in this borough and there is a car in the way, and it may be there for two weeks because someone has gone on holiday, then the bay will be done around the vehicle," he said.

The mayor explained that contractors record the registrations of any cars present when bays are painted, which should prevent them being ticketed.

However, on this occasion he acknowledged the warden made a mistake by not noting the exemption.

Perry also questioned the motives behind the footage being posted online.

The whole thing was actioned before someone chose to put those images on social media, so I think we need to look at perhaps why those images were put on social media in the first place," he told the chamber.

The car owner said: "If you want us to be polite and do the right thing, then an apology is the right thing to do because they made a mistake."

He strongly rejected the mayor's suggestion about his motives, saying he posted the footage because of regular problems with Croydon's parking wardens in his local area.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]