Sweeper gives driver brush with the law

A BLUNDERING council has been left red-faced after mistakenly fining a motorist for driving in a bus lane – only for the offending vehicle to turn out to be one of its own road sweepers.
Jonathan Palgrave with his Tiger racing car.Jonathan Palgrave with his Tiger racing car.
Jonathan Palgrave with his Tiger racing car.

Sheffield City Council posted the penalty charge notice to company director Jonathan Palgrave, 32, along with a photo of the alleged traffic offence, which clearly shows a council worker wearing a fluorescent jacket driving the sweeper on August 21.

“At first I was angry, then confused and now I can’t help but laugh about it,” said Mr Palgrave, who lives almost 100 miles away in Spalding, Lincolnshire, and who has never visited the city.

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“To send a picture of their own vehicle, which they will have records of is brilliant. They should really check those records from time to time.”

The road sweeper looks nothing like the £17,000 Tiger kit car Mr Palgrave drives – although their numberplates have just one letter’s difference.

“They must have just mistaken the E in my car’s registration for the B in the sweeper’s, that’s the difference – other than them being completely different cars,” he said.

Mr Palgrave claims he contacted the council to point out the error but was told he must go through the official complaints procedure before it could be overturned.

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But the council refutes his claim and insists he never got in touch – although it has apologised.

“It’s just been a bureaucratic nightmare and it makes you wonder if it has happened before,” said Mr Palgrave.

“It makes you want to know if it’s all automated or if someone looks at what they are actually sending out. I think I might write back on the form ‘have a look on the back’ so they look and see their own sweeper.”

A spokeswoman said: “The ticket has now been cancelled and we apologise for the confusion.

“This is the first time this kind of mistake has happened.

“If the gentleman had contacted us as soon as he received the penalty notice, we would have cancelled it immediately.”