How one wrong letter led to more

A DRIVER says legal action has been taken against him over parking fines for a car he's never been behind the wheel of.

- By POPPY KENNEDY

Brian Dales with his car, number plate ending ZTT, and the parking charge notice, above left, showing a number plate of ZTL

Brian Dales first received a parking notice through the letterbox almost four years ago, in December 2021. He quickly realised the vehicle, which was photographed going in and out of Peppers Restaurant car park in Birmingham, didn’t belong to him.

The number plate on his Saab Estate is almost identical to the vehicle in question but ends ZTT, while the Nissan Micra pictured clearly ends in ZTL.

Brian, a musician and music teacher, wrote to Smart Parking, who issued the £100 fine, explaining the error. The firm accepted this, cancelling the parking charge notice.

But in the months that followed the 62-year-old received two more letters, in February and March 2022, for an alleged breach relating to the same vehicle.