‘I just don’t know how they get away with it’
FIREFIGHTER WHO PULLED UP ON GARAGE FORECOURT FOLLOWING A WRONG TURN IS HIT WITH FINE
A FIREFIGHTER who pulled into a petrol station forecourt near East Midlands Airport for 40 seconds to check his sat nav after taking a wrong turning has been fined £60.
Ian Moore, a fire service station manager in Durham, was on his way to a meeting with colleagues at Castle Donington fire station in January last year when he accidentally took a wrong turn.
He steered into the BP Garage near East Midlands Airport to get his bearings and to re-programme his sat nav – without anyone leaving the vehicle.
He says he was on the property in his blue light-equipped response car for a matter of seconds – the company say it was 40 – but later received a £60 fine for being caught in a “no stop” zone.
The site has gained notoriety over the past couple of years for the speed at which motorists have been handed fines.
Ian, 48, said: “The sat nav took us into a wrong turn – it took us to a dead end.
“There was a pay-as-you-go car park but, because we weren’t flying anywhere, I just pulled into the garage, reset the sat nav and went back the other way.
“Nobody got out of the car, but I got this letter saying ‘you stopped in a no-stop zone’ and then a £60 fine.”
Ian appealed the fine straight away, attempting to explain the circumstances around the incident to Vehicle Control Services, which issues the penalties to motorists.
However, more than a year later, he was told his appeal had been rejected and he decided he had little choice but to give up and pay the fine.
“I was driving, so I felt obliged to pay the fine. If we’d have seen the signs, we wouldn’t have turned around there, but just thinking it was a garage forecourt we obviously thought it was okay to turn around there.
“Charging fire services for turning around on a garage forecourt when we are supposed to be there protecting the public is incredible, especially once the circumstances were reviewed by appeal - which took over a year.
“I can’t believe they are allowed to get away with it.”.
■ What do you think? What are the rights and wrongs of this story - is Ian correct, or should he not have stopped there, however briefly? Share your views with others by emailing our Mailbox page at: mailbox@leicestermercury.co.uk