Driver slapped with £158 parking fine after pigeon poo hides valid permit – and they still have to pay

A DRIVER has been hit with a £158 parking fine after his valid permit was covered by pigeon poo.

Southend man, Scott Coltart, was slapped with the fine outside his house as parking officers allegedly couldn’t see the permit.

Despite immediately showing the parking inspector the mistake, he was told it was too late and would be forced to appeal the ticket with Southend Council.

Mr Coltart told : “If you just moved your head slightly, you could clearly see the permit was in date.

“Regardless, I immediately wiped the poo away but the man said it was too late and gave us the ticket.

“He was very rude as he slapped it on the windscreen and just said to take it up on appeal.”

But even after lodging their appeal, the 30-year-old and his wife Lisa were told by the council that, although the incident was “unfortunate”, they would still have to pay the fine.

The couple then challenged the ticket a second time and assumed the charge had been dropped, but later received an enforcement letter saying bailiffs would visit their home if it wasn’t paid in full.

Lisa said: “The only thing I can see we can do is pay it but we shouldn’t have to. We have two young children and we’re both self employed.

“We work so hard for our kids – we can’t have bailiffs coming to our home. Bird poo is not something we can control.

“The fine says we had an invalid permit but that just isn’t true and our street is checked several times a day.”

A Southend Council spokesman said: “We are currently discussing this claim with our contractor and will be in touch with the residents directly.”