In this letter, Paul Carnell, a resident and member of the Conservative Party, calls the legal blunder of wrongly issued parking fines 'a farce' comparable to other failures from Reading Borough Council. Mr Carnell writes: 

We can now add the parking tickets farce to the list of failures from Reading Borough Council. The list is long but the Gosbrook Road cycle lane and Reading Station shopping park planning application spring immediately to mind.

I accept mistakes can happen. But how the council respond now is important. Will there be an investigation, not to apportion blame but to ensure this mistake doesn’t happen again? Will there be any auditing process to confirm that there are no other mistakes just waiting for their time to come into the public domain?

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Reading Borough Council expects most of the 6,000 plus victims of the incorrectly issued parking tickets to, in the first instance, to apply to the council.

It is true that some of the victims may have moved, but many will not have so a letter to each car owner at the address listed would, no doubt, have been appreciated. What of the drivers from outside the borough who may not be aware of the problem where media coverage of the failing may not be as comprehensive as we have received in Reading?

The cynic in me wonders if the council is hoping that the number of claimants is substantially below those who are entitled.

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I will also highlight that the council’s chief executive, Jackie Yates, was left to face the press alone. Where was the leader of the council, or the portfolio holder? 

By the time you read this it is possible that Liz Terry will have apologised, but we do see the Labour administration publicly extolling their achievements in this publication, they should take responsibility for their mistakes. The people of Reading deserve better.