New Year parking fine amnesty

Thousands of parking tickets issued on New Year's Day, causing outrage among motorists, have been cancelled.

Among those caught out were families watching the New Year's Day parade from Parliament Square to Piccadilly, and people taking part in the annual 10km fun run in Hyde Park.

Because most believed it was a public holiday they thought they were free to park at meters and on single yellow lines. But Westminster sent out teams of traffic wardens who issued 3,716 parking tickets resulting in fines of about £180,000.

Clamped drivers faced an additional removal fee of £65 and owners of cars towed away faced a £150 charge.

Initially Westminster - whose roadside signs point out that parking restrictions are not enforced on public holidays - insisted Saturday was a "normal" day and motorists would have to pay. But today it said the "vast majority" of the penalties would be cancelled. "We admit there was a high level of confusion and we don't want to benefit from that," said a spokesman. "While we acted to the letter of the law perhaps it was not in the spirit of the law."

Only those fines normally issued on a bank holiday - for parking in residents' bays or in dangerous locations such as street corners - will be upheld.

The council also promised a full refund to drivers who have paid fines or tow-away fees, and to those who can produce pay-and-display permits to show they paid to park after seeing other drivers ticketed.

The council said it would automatically cancel all unjust tickets, but those in doubt could use the call centre number on their ticket. "A lot of people contacted us to say it was outrageous and we have reacted," said the spokesman. "We are retrospectively treating Saturday as a bank holiday."

There was widespread confusion over Saturday's status. While many office diaries listed Saturday as a public holiday, others simply described it as New Year's Day and did not clarify whether it was a bank holiday.

An official for the Government's Department for Work and Pensions stated that Saturday was indeed a public holiday - but the Department of Trade and Industry overruled this.

An Evening Standard survey of London's 33 local authorities showed many councils did not enforce parking regulations on Saturday. Those that did included Kingston, Ealing, Bromley, Brent, Bexley and Hammersmith and Fulham.

These councils are today facing pressure from motoring organisations to follow Westminster's lead and are considering their position.

Paul Watters of the AA said: "There were clearly high levels of confusion among the public, and where that is the case you should not enforce."