Hove woman slams council for unfair parking fine after hot day

Lana Haverstock, who lives in Raphael Road, Hove, came home from work in London on a scorching day last month to see her car safely parked as usual.

But when Ms Haverstock, a lecturer at a London university, got closer, to her dismay she saw there was a parking ticket attached to her windscreen.

Lana Haverstock got home from work to see a fine on her car, despite having an in-date permit (Image: Lana Haverstock)

The distressed 51-year-old she looked into her car and saw her in-date resident's permit still visible on the passenger seat.

Ms Haverstock appealed against the fine but it was rejected on Tuesday on the grounds that the council had “reviewed the quality of the adhesive used in 2023”.

The university lecturer said she then checked other vehicles in her street and found permits in 15 of the 25 cars parked there had unpeeled and unattached from their windscreens.

She said: “The permits were expiring in 2024/25 so would have had the revised adhesive. It is clearly due to poor quality.”

When making her appeal, Ms Haverstock attached images of her car and the peeled off permit but it was rejected on “insufficient grounds”.

READ MORE: Woman who forgot to renew parking permit now 592nd on waiting list

Parking permits which became unstuck from windscreens in Raphael Road, Hove. Some residents have used tape or other glues to try to re-stick their permits (Image: Lana Haverstock)

She said the Brighton and Hove City Council website does not give information on what counts as “sufficient evidence” when appealing.

Ms Haverstock said: “I want to warn other innocent souls and save them time, energy and the heartache.”

Councillor Trevor Muten, cabinet member for transport, parking and public realm, said: “We are aware this had occasionally been an issue in the past during unusually hot weather and have worked with the company which produces our permits to reduce the likelihood of this happening.

“We doubled the width of the adhesive on the permit and added very clear application instructions, with images, to the permit letter following tests carried out by the manufacturer. 

“It is important the windscreen is cleaned before the permit is applied as it is considerably more likely to come unstuck from an uncleaned window in hot weather.

“We’re confident the quality of our permits has improved, but where residents feel they have been unfairly ticketed they do have the option to appeal any fines received.

“Whenever we receive such an appeal, our officers judge each case on its merits and the available evidence.”