Parking ticket for mayor’s official car

May 6 2008 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post

Mayor of Wirral Paul Gilchrist

PROVING that no-one is above the law, a parking attendant in Wirral put a ticket on the mayor’s car during an official engagement.

Wirral mayor Cllr Phil Gilchrist was not in the vehicle at the time, but had been dropped off at the Floral Pavilion theatre, in New Brighton, as part of his official duties.

His driver has to ensure the safety of the valuable mayoral chain of office and had followed his charge and was away from the car.

It was then that the parking attendant struck – placing one of the bright yellow notices on the black Jaguar Sovereign with the distinctive registration plate WCM 1M.

A spokeswoman for Wirral Council admitted the mayor’s car had been caught out the same way thousands of other motorists are, and said the incident “shows that no one is above the law”.

However, because the driver of the car is responsible for parking it and could still appeal within the 28-day limit, few other details were forthcoming.

The £70 fine issued by the parking attendant is the higher of the two possible fines that can be issued under new rules brought in just a few weeks ago.

The council spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that the mayoral car received a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) last week. As with all PCNs, there is a 28-day payment window.

“The mayor was not in the vehicle when it was parked.

“Wirral Council takes all parking contraventions seriously and this shows that people who do not park accordingly will be issued with a ticket.”

The mayor, who has a non-political role, has two chauffeurs who drive him to the many engagements he carries out during his year in office – which for Cllr Gilchrist, who also faced re-election on May 1, should finish within the next week. It is expected this ticket will follow the same process as the thousands of others issued by the contractors for the council, NCP.

It will be sent to the council, which is the registered keeper of the vehicle, and then be forwarded to the driver.

It follows the recent introduction of new rules on parking which brought in a two-tiered system which allows parking attendants – renamed civil enforcement officers (CEOs) – to issue £70 fines or £50 fines for lesser offences, reduced by half if paid within two weeks.

The offences had previously carried a £60 fine, reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days.

Last night, Cllr Gilchrist said the driver had told him about the ticket, and he had replied that it showed “the law applies to everyone”.

liammurphy