Devon man wants to see 'parking angels' idea spread
Posted by Jodie Crowther on Tuesday, 19 Jun 2012, 15:41 in UK Motoring
A painter and decorator from Devon who was once given a parking fine after spending seven minutes longer than permitted in a restricted bay, has called on people to become 'parking angels'. Roger Clayton, of Paignton, told the BBC that he wanted to see people put their hand in their pocket and buy a ticket for a fellow motorist if they saw a traffic warden preparing to slap a fine on a vehicle. Earlier this year the 47-year-old helped out a driver who was about to be fined for staying too long in a parking spot. He said: "I was down the beach a few months ago and saw a traffic warden putting a ticket on a car so I just put 50p in the machine for a ticket for an extra 20 minutes, put it on the windscreen and walked off." Mr Clayton himself was once caught out for staying seven minutes too long in a parking space and had to pay a £25 fine. He believes the idea could take off if people spread the word. "My family and friends said they'd do the same," he added. "And if someone did that for you, you might do it for someone else." Torbay Council told the BBC that it couldn't see a problem with the practice, but said there were of course logistical problems with people fixing a ticket to the outside of a vehicle's windscreen.
