Now Shaun and Joy Pickerill, from Fegg Hayes, have been given until 11 February to pay up
Originally Publish Yasmin Sarwar
A disabled couple have had a bailiff knocking on their door – over an unpaid parking fine. Shaun and Joy Pickerill have been told they now owe £394 after failing to pay the original penalty.
It was back in March 2022 when Joy parked on Wharf Road car park, in Biddulph, to go shopping. But the 55-year-old did not realise it was pay-and-display, had a parking ticket slapped on her car, and hid the penalty in a drawer without telling her husband.
Heart attack victim Shaun, aged 64, said: “There were probably parking signs and meters but my wife made the basic assumption that it was free because it was the last time she’d visited. She put the parking ticket in the drawer at home and then forgot about it – I think she was probably too embarrassed to tell me about it at the time.
“I wish it had been me who’d got the ticket instead of Joy because she has been really upset and mithered by it all. Councils will make people homeless with what they expect from working class people, it was a small mistake that is now much bigger. I had a similar thing when I parked in Burslem and I’d displayed the ticket upside down and I got a parking fine then, but I just paid them rather than proving my case.
“The bailiff knocked on our door and I thought it was a policeman. It was a big bloke dressed all in black and he handed me a letter. They asked for Joy and I just stood behind her and listened. I didn’t let them in but Joy would have. We don’t even have the car anymore, it was an old Honda Jazz.
“I was earning good money before my heart attack but it left me hospitalised for days and I haven’t been able to work since. I’ve gone from being paid £2,000 a month, to between £1,200 to £1,300 on sick pay from my previous employer, to £480 on statutory sick pay.
“It’s hard times for us at the minute financially because everything’s stupidly expensive. We have to prioritise rent, council tax and bills before anything and everything else. I’d pay it no problem if I could, but I’d be making myself homeless because we haven’t got that money. We’ve got Citizens Advice involved because I don’t know how to deal with it.”
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council has not commented on the case.
But a Stoke-on-Trent City Council spokesman said: ”In addition to the original penalty notice on the vehicle, neither the driver nor the vehicle owner responded to any of the four letters that were sent to the property. The case escalated to enforcement agents who have since visited Mr and Mrs Pickerill advising that ‘breathing space’ will be granted until 11 February in line with communication with the CAB.
“All penalty notices come with the opportunity to appeal the charges, which are investigated independently. The city council adhered to all formal processes when attempting to resolve the parking issue.”