Butcher wins battle over parking fines

A BUTCHER has won a two-year battle to overturn more than 50 tickets and £20,000 in fines for parking on the same set of yellow lines – after proving every one was wrong.

Gareth Sell, 36, had been parking on double yellow lines near his shop for years when he started getting fines two years ago.

He refused to pay them – believing the spot was a private road and thus ineligible for yellow lines – and was soon picking up fines every day as he parked there in protest.

The butcher received more than 200 letters from the council and eventually had bailiffs trying to climb through his garden, but he stood his ground.

And after racking up an estimated £20,000 in fines, he finally proved he was right all along.

He found documents online that proved the yellow lines outside his shop were in the wrong place, and shouldn’t cover the spot where he parked.

Surrey County Council finally admitted defeat, asked Reigate and Banstead Borough Council to revoke all his fines – and offered him £300 compensation.