Motorist threatens to go to jail

AN enraged motorist has today revealed he is prepared to go to prison after refusing to pay a parking fine he picked up in Ipswich.

Stephen Copsey, of Malvern Close, parked his Mercedes overnight in an area of Constantine Road which he claims was not subject to parking restrictions.

But when he returned to retrieve his car, he discovered it had been coned off and slapped with a �35 fine by parking attendants following an Ipswich Town game at Portman Road.

The 57-year-old contacted Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) to argue that he had parked in Constantine Road the day before the match but was told that the parking attendant on duty at the time refuted his claim.

Mr Copsey, who works for Suffolk County Council, said: “I parked my car in an area of Constantine Road where there were no yellow lines or restriction notices. There was no indication to say it was a restricted zone.

“I didn't use my car that weekend but I wasn't concerned because I had not parked on a yellow line.

“Then the council told me that a parking attendant said my car was not there when the bollards were put out.”

In a letter to Mr Copsey, IBC said that the evidence of the enforcement officer suggested his car was not parked in Constantine Road overnight and it “found no grounds for the cancellation of the charge.”

A spokesman for the council said: “We cannot comment on individual cases but the issue of a penalty charge notice is the beginning of a formal legal process.

“The recipient has the right of appeal to the traffic penalty tribunal, an independent adjudication panel, whose decision is binding on both parties.”

Mr Copsey said: “I would go right to the top but there's only so far I can go with a parking ticket. The council is like a zombie, it just keeps coming at you.

“I'm happy to go to jail over it. I'm that adamant that the council's parking attendant has lied.

“If this has happened to me I'm sure it could happen to other people as well.”