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Cabbie loses case over parking ticket
APPEAL: Taxi driver Steward Douglas had fine for parking outside Colours nightclub withdrawn after he complained the signs were unclear. PHOTO: Mike Proudfoot MP120828 (19).
A DOUGLAS cabbie has lost his case for compensation over a disputed parking ticket.
Stewart Douglas, originally from Los Angeles, moved to the island 11 years ago and had worked as a taxi driver here for the last nine years.
On June 30 last year, he was given a fixed penalty notice for parking the vehicle he uses for his carpet cleaning business in a taxi rank space outside Colours nightclub on Central Promenade.
Mr Douglas, 50, of Woodbourne Road, refused to pay the £40 fine and lodged an appeal, insisting the painted signs on the road indicated it was only a taxi rank between 8pm and 4am Friday to Sunday.
The parking administration officer in the Department of Infrastructure initially stood by the decision to issue the ticket.
But following the intervention of his MHK, Brenda Cannell, the then Infrastructure Minister Phil Gawne asked his officers to investigate. After concluding the signage and road markings were confusing, the fixed penalty notice was withdrawn.
Mr Douglas appeared in the small claims court, seeking compensation of £249.50 for costs he says he incurred in fighting his case.
But the court found the department had no power to pay compensation or expenses and that it did not owe Mr Douglas a duty to prevent him from incurring expenses.
A spokesman for the department said: ‘Whilst we are satisfied with the outcome of this case, individuals who believe they have received a fixed penalty notice unfairly are able to appeal to the department and where their claim can be justified, the department will cancel the notice.
‘This case confirms that the department is not liable to cover an individual’s expenses for making such an appeal which must be made at their own expense.’
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Weather for Isle of Man
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 8 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 13 C
Wind Speed: 23 mph
Wind direction: North west
