Parking row TV presenter Knowles shares fines anger
DIY SOS television programme presenter Nick Knowles has vented his anger after drivers were handed parking fines during Cirencester’s Christmas Market event.
The town council held a two-day festive celebration at the weekend, with the Christmas lights switch-on happening on Saturday.
Mr Knowles, who lives near Cirencester, posted a picture on Twitter of a penalty charge notice on a car windscreen that had been issued by Gloucestershire County Council. He said, in the tweet: “Congrats ?Cirencester? & Gloucester cnclls.
“You hold an Xmas fayre to get shoppers into town & when they do & car parks are full you ticket everyone parked on a single yellow on a Sunday, whole rows of them!
“Hell of a way to support local businesses by driving people away.”
The star’s implication that the county council should have been more lenient with its parking enforcement during the Christmas event polarised opinion.
Most of those commenting on his tweet either shared his view and felt the county council had been harsh or disagreed with him and believed that it was the motorists’ fault for breaking parking rules.
One person said: “My wife is a traffic warden, the towns where she patrols that have a Christmas Market they are advised not to ticket unless parked dangerously. Seems some areas aren’t as sensible.”
But another contributor said: “If you break the law you should get penalised right?”
Councillor Joe Harris, who represents Cirencester on the county council and is also the leader of Cotswold District Council, tweeted: “No one is being penalised for visiting the town – parking is free in all Cirencester car parks on Sundays.
“This is a ticket for breaking an onstreet parking regulations such as yellow lines, no return within 1 hour etc.”
Media personality Jeremy Vine waded into the row.
He tweeted: “Excellent work. Children on foot are the priority, not adults wedging large metal cages into places they don’t fit.”
Mr Knowles responded by saying: “He’s still mad at me for calling him out on misrepresenting a story about police - he hands out criticism daily but gets very nasty when he is criticised. It’s kinda sad.
“Gets all personal so has been waiting several years for me to mention a car related story.”
Gloucestershire County Council has been approached for comment.
Hell of a way to support local businesses by driving people away Nick Knowles