A local authority has been forced to apologise to residents after failing to notice a huge parking error which saw thousands of drivers unfairly charged.
Bedford Borough Council admitted that an administrative error was behind the unnecessary overnight charges issued to drivers at council-owned car parks.
A £2 fee alongside a £2 Sunday parking charge came as a shock to drivers who had been blindsided by the costs which were rolled out at the beginning of the year.
But after receiving backlash from the public, the council has since removed the charges and apologised for the error.
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Bedford Council introduced Sunday and overnight parking charges across the borough
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Councillor Jim Weir told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The 900 entries on the fees and charges [spreadsheet] got a little bit confused at some point.
“Therefore, the parking was showing as overnight at £2; we categorically stated again that it will not be charged. That would be removed because it was erroneous.”
When questioned how the error went unnoticed by the council, Weir stated that it’s “because it’s nearly a thousand-entry line spreadsheet”.
“If you ever go and look at the report and start scrolling through the fees and charges, it’s page after page after page. All the words said no, but the numbers appeared, and they were passed down through officers, and they acted on it,” he explained.
He did note that “as soon as the first person shouted, we realised there was an error somewhere”. He added: “We didn’t U-turn, it wasn’t a conspiracy, it wasn’t a mayoral pet project. It was an error, they do happen, and I apologise because it is under my watch becauseI’m the portfolio holder so it was my error.”
According to reports, the council had previously blamed a “discrepancy” as the reason for the error. However, earlier this week, Mayor Tom Wootton took to social media to clarify the issue.
He posted his apology on Facebook and hoped the error could be rectified quickly with drivers who were unfairly charged able to get a refund.
Wootton shared: “Mistakes can occur in any organisation, and when they do, it is essential to take responsibility. As Leader of the Borough, I take full responsibility for the error that suggested a £2 charge for car parking on Sundays. This was an oversight and will be corrected at the earliest opportunity.
“I believe in accountability and transparency. Rather than attributing blame to junior officers, I acknowledge that neither I, the Executive Councillors, nor the other Councillors who voted on this measure identified the mistake.”
He also clarified that Sunday parking will remain free at all council-owned car parks and hoped that anyone impacted by the error “was minimal”.
A spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats responded to the parking nightmare and explained that while the reversal has been welcomed and the council did promise to refund those fined, “what about refunding all the people who paid the £2 when they didn’t need to?”
They added that the whole ordeal has been “complete chaos” and that it was not a “discrepancy” to change all the car parking machines and signs to introduce a Sunday charge.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Bedford Mayor apologised to locals about the charges adding that the council would issue a refund
PA
The spokesperson explained that the charges would have taken time and organisation to sort out and that is “an insult to residents to suggest otherwise”.
“This was an attack on local residents and businesses and they have only backed down now following outrage from residents and after Bedford Borough Liberal Democrats challenged them that this was an undemocratic decision – under this Mayor Bedford Borough Council seems to lurch from one chaotic mistake to another,” the spokesperson warned.
