A Dundee man has racked up thousands of parking tickets in a year.
Because he has refused to pay, he has also accrued thousands of debt-collection letters demanding an increased fee of £207 on each £100 parking ticket to fund ‘late fees’.
James Reilly (80), from Marine Parade Walk, has baskets full of tickets and letters dating back to June 2009.
It is thought the charges including late fees could stretch to as much as £20,000.
Mr Reilly parks his Land Rover in his designated space outside his home but refuses to display a parking permit on principle and says he is prepared to go to court to fight the charges against him.
He says that it is his space and he should not need to display a permit.
Property management firm Ross and Liddell acts as the factor for Marine Parade and employs Central Ticketing to cover the street, issuing any vehicle without an official permit with a £100 fine.
On Tuesday Mr Reilly was told the fines would be ripped up if he gets in touch. Ross and Liddell also said it would “further explain permit display procedures to ensure that he doesn’t receive any tickets in the future.”
But Mr Reilly is adamant he should not have to and will not display a permit he says he has had problems with parking companies in the past and it is a point of principle.
Mr Reilly said, “I’ve lived here since June last year and I’ve received frequent parking tickets.
“I must have thousands of tickets and letters from debt collection agencies asking me to pay up.
“I carry them around as a campaign medal.
“My point is they are not entitled to do this. “Prepared to go to courtHe added, “They are just going out and levying these charges without any justification at all.
“This is my private property. I have a letter from the developer showing a picture of the parking places and which one is mine.
“It’s my private parking space and I’m not co-operating.”
Mr Reilly said he has had similar run-ins with private parking firms down south.
He said, “I’m prepared to go to court over this if necessary. I refuse to pay a penny and I don’t need a permit.”
A spokesman for Ross and Liddell said, “Following a high number of complaints from residents about cars being parked in designated spaces, we wrote to residents asking them to ensure that visitors were not parking in designated spaces.
“The problem continued, however and we took the decision to issue residents with parking permits and appointed a parking company to monitor the area at no extra cost to residents.”
He added, “The move has been a success due to the overwhelming majority of residents who now display their parking permits.
“Unfortunately the resident in question refuses to display his parking permit and as a result of this has received a number of parking fines.
“We are, however, happy to cancel the parking fines for the resident and further explain permit display procedures to ensure that he doesn’t receive any tickets in the future.”
In 2005 two Central Ticketing shareholders were probed by BBC programme Watchdog for allegedly charging drivers in the West Midlands for parking at car parks they had not visited.
After an investigation by a politician the company had its contract suspended at a Stirling car park after hundreds of complaints.
The Courier attempted to contact Central Ticketing several times on Tuesday but failed to be connected to an operator.