Question for Police

spen666

This story appears today in the media.

As I recall, you (police) give warnings to those who drive cars or bikes anti socially and the said bikes/cars can be confiscated if the offence is repeated in the next 1 (2?) years

Could that approach be taken here to deal with this issue

Any thoughts?

Highly-paid footballers are openly flouting parking laws - because £70 fines are too easy to pay
For most of us, having a parking ticket costing £70 or more is a major irritant.

But when you earn upwards of £50,000 a week, the blow is softened somewhat.

So it's perhaps unsurprising that when top Premiership footballers need to park their German sports car or monstrous American trucks, they don't let the small matter of double yellow lines or loading bays bother them.

With some of the country's highest-paid stars living in the area, Manchester has become used to the sight of Bentleys and Aston Martins blocking pavements and bus stops outside its swankier bars and most overpriced boutiques.


Micah Richards was unperturbed with his ticket for parking on a double yellow


Now, however, the council is to write to Manchester United FC and the area's other big clubs asking them to remind players of their civic duties.

While the income from the fines brings in hundreds of pounds a week, officials accuse the millionaire footballers of setting a bad example by acting as though they are above the law while bringing chaos to the city centre.

Pat Karney, Manchester City Council's city centre spokesman, said he would be asking the clubs to bring their players into line.

'Obviously the parking laws do not discriminate between rich and poor,' he said. 'But these are high-profile people who should be setting an example to youngsters.

'These parking restrictions are in place to stop the city centre from becoming grid-locked. I will be writing to the clubs of all the players concerned reminding them of this and their duty to set an example and obey the law.'

Only this week, Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards was given a ticket after leaving his £80,000 Audi R8 straddling a double yellow line and the pavement outside popular celebrity haunt The Living Room.

The £50,000-a-week star seemed unconcerned as he removed the notice from his windscreen despite having parked a few yards away from the nearest car park.

Derby County's Robbie Savage, who lives in Cheshire, perhaps summed up the attitude of his fellow players last month when he held his yellow parking ticket up to the camera, grinning happily, after leaving his car on the pavement outside another bar, Panacea.

Manchester United stars such as Rio Ferdinand and Cristiano Ronaldo are also regularly seen parking their luxury cars illegally, although perhaps unsurprisingly their hot-tempered team-mate Wayne Rooney seems to be rather less blase about the prospect of a fine.

After leaving his £170,000 Bentley in a loading bay outside footballers' favourite clothes store Flannels for 40 minutes on a pre-wedding shopping trip with Coleen McLoughlin, a traffic warden attempting to give him a ticket retreated after being berated by Rooney.


However the prospects of a positive response from the clubs - which bring in millions of pounds to the region - seemed slim last night.

An insider at one said: 'We do have some players who regularly ignore parking tickets, particularly some of the foreign ones who say they don't understand the system here.

'But frankly, with the money they're on, it's hardly surprising that these fines don't make much of an impression, and as far as we're concerned it's entirely their responsibility.'

One problem is that when overseas players drive a foreign-registered car, the council is unable to trace their details, meaning the ticket will probably be cancelled.

Parking tickets in Manchester cost £50 for routine offences such as overstaying and £70 for more serious violations such as being in a loading bay, although both are halved if paid within two weeks

There are comments posted by people to this story including the idea that cars should be towed away and crushed. I like the thought of crushing the car on the spot ( mobile crushing machines?)
Can you imagineprima donna footballer or whoever coming out of manicurist or hairdresser and finding their Bentley is now a cube of metal on the roadside

markos1963

When I was working at a shopping centre in Luton many years ago a local footballer left his brand new Range Rover parked on our loading bay. We got a call put out for the owner to come and move the car as a delivery was due. When he showed up he refused to move as he still had to do some shopping and we could wait! Well , he made a mistake there as the delivery driver was not one to be messed around with. He warned the footballer he had precisely 3 mins to move otherwise he would crush his car with his loading hoist. The footballer again mistakenly thought it was a wind up, laughed and started walking off. He soon spun around when he heard the sound of crushing Range Rover as our driver lowered his hoist onto the roof of the car It was the first time I have ever seen someone jump up and down in anger and the first time I ever wet myself laughing.

Mithras

Section 59 of the road traffic act?.......mmmmm in a word: No.