Fined for being 'in two different places at the same time'

A motorist is demanding an inquiry after he was given tickets in two different places at the same time.

Colin Southwell was ready to admit his guilt when council chiefs sent him a photo of his van driving in a bus lane at

9.47am - and a ?100 fine.

But when the same council fined him a further ?100 for staying too long at a meter at

9.48am on the same day - at a location five minutes away - he dug his heels in.

Mr Southwell, the director of a metal designs business, admitted he had parked his vehicle in Cowcross Street, Farringdon, while he visited the dentist.

But he clearly recalled arriving back at his car in time to buy a coffee and drive off before his money ran out.

"It was obvious the minute I opened the two separate envelopes, which arrived at the same time, that someone was trying to cheat and it wasn't me," Mr Southwell said.

"Clearly, a parking attendant thought he could get away with noting down my car's details and issuing a fine after I left, in the belief I'd simply forget when the fine came through the post, assume I had made a mistake and pay up.

"What he didn't know was that precisely one minute earlier I had already been caught on film by his own council's cameras at least five minutes away on Clerkenwell Road."

Mr Southwell, who says a ticket was not left on his car, wants an inquiry into whether he is the only such victim.

"My workers have had numerous penalties when we didn't have tickets on our cars and we have paid up, assuming we were in the wrong," he said.

"They must get motorists like this all the time."

Islington council has cancelled his second ticket and promised to investigate and penalise its contractor, NCP, if his complaint is upheld.