 | Parking
in Sunderland |
Parking problems
Inside Out reveals serious problems in Sunderland's car parking
enforcement system in an exclusive undercover operation. We uncover examples
of racism and abuse and ask managers for their response. Inside Out has
uncovered worrying evidence, obtained by putting a journalist as a trainee into
Sunderland's National Car Parks. We took our camera into NCP because we've
been told that their parking attendants had been abusing their position. Drivers
had complained that they were being unfairly ticketed. Discriminatory
attitudes? Each year more than 20,000 parking tickets are issued
in Sunderland city centre. The main offences are drivers parking on yellow
lines and
overstaying in bays. But one of the complaints we've heard
a lot is that the city's parking attendants are picking on drivers. Parking
problems |  | "I
tell you now.
Villette Road - I have tortured all day."
Parking
attendant |
People on Villette
Road in the city centre are convinced that it is being ticketed unfairly. They
agree that there is a problem with illegal parking in this busy street. But
our undercover filming showed one parking attendant bragging about making an example
of Villette Road. The same attendant claims that he threatened to ticket
a barman so he could get a free pint. He also claims that he'd threatened
to hound a driver during an argument.
Elsewhere in the city another said
he had knifed the tyres of a driver who'd complained about him. Parking
attendants are supposed to uphold the law, yet this one appears to have just admitted
to damaging a car. Inside Out also found that some car parking attendants
appear to have discriminatory attitudes towards the disabled. We captured
a parking attendant's cruel impersonation of a disabled driver on camera, as well
as verbal abuse of people with disabilities. Racist
abuse Inside Out witnessed complaints about racist abuse in the
heart of Sunderland's Bangladeshi community in Hendon. Our undercover filming
reveals strong evidence of staff behaving in a racist manner, and examples of
racist comments about Hendon during a team briefing. They refer to Hendon
as "the blackie streets". NCP and Sunderland Council must operate
a competent, fair and impartial parking system - this is the duty they accepted
when the police handed them responsibility for parking in the city. Inside
Out's investigation raises serious questions about the way the parking enforcement
system was set up and managed in Sunderland.  | | Parking
patrols - evidence of racist language |
Our evidence was gathered
over a few weeks of on-the-job training to be an NCP parking attendant. In
one case a parking attendant refers to a driver as a "daft... Paki"
and takes a pleasure in giving him a ticket. It suggests that there were
serious problems with the company's management in Sunderland, and that its attendants
were abusing their powers. Following Inside Out's allegations, NCP's Director
of Communications, Tim Cowen, has responded as follows: "We
were shocked and horrified at the evidence of racist comments and the unfortunate
comments about people with disabilities as well. "That's absolutely
not the kind of thing we condone at NCP. "We took very swift action.
We suspended five members of staff immediately and investigated those allegations. "Five
members of staff have now been sacked."
NCP also addressed
the issue of racism in its response.  | | Tim
Cowen - NCP are conducting a full investigation |
"We have
investigated all of these allegations that our members of staff some of them were
making on the street," says Tim Cowen. "There is no evidence of
wrongdoing. "There is no evidence that particular streets receive
an unusually high number of tickets - no evidence that other streets are being
ignored." He also responds to the issue of language: "A
lot of this banter, that while we certainly don't condone it, it's not best practice
particularly in a public place when you are a public servant."
NCP
says that it's setting up meetings with Sunderland's Bangladeshi community and
a local disability group. It has also sent its staff on a diversity training
course. We understand that it has also sent a letter to all of its employees
condemning the racist and discriminatory language in Sunderland. Sunderland
Council's responseSunderland Council responded by saying that it
"deplored the racist and discriminatory language" which was "contrary
to our policies and practices".  | | Full
review - Sunderland Council is taking action |
It also says
that it has taken "swift and decisive action" and a "full review"
of the contract with NCP had begun. The City Council's Cabinet will determine
"any future action" in the near future. It added that the parking
system remains "legal, robust and enforceable". Inside Out's investigation
shows that race relations in the city have been seriously damaged. And we
believe that it's more than just a question of racist language - the issue is
the behaviour of some of the staff that we've exposed. Inside Out has shown
Northumbria Police's team a selection of our evidence and it has begun an investigation. Links
relating to this story:The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content
of external websites | 听 |
Readers' Comments | These people are
disgusting and represent only a small minority of people in Sunderland. I am a
17 year old white college student living and studying in Sunderland and I can
confirm that people of all ethnics get along in harmony. It's a shame some narrow
minded people can not accept or adhere to such simple harmonies. I feel let down
and ashamed of such evidence presented by the 大象传媒...
All in all, Sunderland
is a great place to live and work, it's a real shame that there's misrepresentation
of the city by such narrow minded individuals. John Kylie Watched
the show and was wondering why you did your report all the way up in Sunderland
where there is more white parking attendants then there is in London? In London
there are more ethnic parking attendants who don't mind letting off ethnic drivers
but not white drivers.
I've seen on many occasion where I live in Middlesex
ethnic attendants letting them off when they realise they are ethnic when they
come running to there car in a rush!!!! This is not fair that you have just done
the report in Sunderland making out that all white parking attendants are racist.
When you should have done is report all around London and it would have shown
that this happens to white people when the parking attendants are ethnic.
Richard
Mulvey Well done Inside Out - the car parking attendants' attitudes
to ethnic communities was a disgrace. I used to live in these streets and there
was a good sense of community. How dare these bigoted individuals undermine race
relations in Sunderland.
Susan, Sunderland My wife and I both
watched the programme last night and as residents of Sunderland felt ashamed to
live in a city where this sort of behaviour is seen to be acceptable by its council.
We can believe that the Council can say that it has not received any complaints
on the matter, anyone who used even the city's online services on their website
will realise that council does not want to receive complaints. You can report
any number of things, you can have your bin replaced, but there is no easy way
to make a complaint. Try ringing them and you will be directed to a call centre
where again you can't actually make a complaint, in fact you will probably be
told that it is your fault because you are not following the system.
Perhaps
the solution in this case it to hit them where it hurts. Lets organise a boycott
of parking in Sunderland even if it is only for one day. G & L Robinson My
OAP father in law got a ticket in Penrith on September 1st. the attendant said
the paid ticket was displayed at all. The problem was it had fallen onto the floor
of the vehicle having been stuck to the windscreen. My father in law wrote a letter
stating this and included copies of the parking and payment tickets. A
letter was returned stating that this didn聮t change anything it was still
not displayed in the correct manner. I then rang the offices and got through to
the manager he would not change his mind but said I could appeal but by admitting
guilt he would get off with a reduced fine of 拢30聟 he paid up being
a pensioner every penny counts and 拢30 is better than 拢60. R. Corder
I am 50 years old and I have only ever had 2 parking tickets in my
life and both of them have been in Sunderland town centre since NCP have taken
over. In both incidences I was using my mother's disabled badge.
The first
time I received a ticket was for not displaying the badge the right way up, and
the second time was for being 4 minutes overdue on a restricted parking area.
The first time I appealed without any luck, and the second time I questioned the
validity of the ticket over the telephone as I thought that being only 4 minutes
over warranted a degree of discretion on behalf of the T.A. The NCP representative
on the telephone was abrupt and unhelpful and gave a curt reply that "4 minutes
over is 4 minutes over" and that an appeal would be useless.
Instead
of the traffic wardens giving people who are disabled a little bit leeway if they
display there badge wrongly or are delayed slightly getting back to there car.
I believe they target disabled badge holders in the town centre as they see them
as easy prey, and as parking freeloaders. I hope after your program highlighting
the NCP parking mafia, they lose their contract. Well done the 大象传媒.
Juan I've
seen it all now. As a Blue Badge holder I am absolutely disgusted at the way NCP
Wardens have carried out their 'Purge' of mostly innocent motorists. They have
brought the motoring public's opinion of Sunderland to an all time low. Even the
non-motoring public are gobsmacked, undoing all previous efforts to raise the
image of their own city. Have an unbiased investigation, then sack them!!! Doug
Wilding I am the father of a disabled child living in Sunderland.
Just before my wife's birthday I took our two children into the Bridges car park,
so we could look for birthday gifts. All the disabled bays were full so I parked
a couple of flights up, I thought it unfair to use my sons blue badge outside
the designated bays so I opted to pay for two hours. My eldest son, 11,
has Cerebral Palsy which mainly effects his legs so don't walk very fast. On our
way back to the car my youngest son, who is 5, spotted a 'singing tree' display
in the middle of the bridges and he wanted to see it, so we stayed and watched. When
we finally got back to the car, I realised that we were 10 minutes late past the
two hours I had put on the ticket, and there was a parking attendant punching
the cars details into his computer. I explained why we were late and showed him
my blue badge, I was completely ignored and told to phone the number on the back
of the ticked which he was still printing if I would like to complain. I
must confess to being really cheesed off with the whole thing but I was 10 minutes
late so a begrudgingly payed the 拢30 fine and left it at that but the documentary
I watched last night just high lighted how 'anti social' and 'how impressed they
are with there own sense of power' that I am sending you this information now
as I feel it helps illustrate there prejudice towards the disabled and even disabled
children. Paul March
Hope we might watch it again and again and in the hope that the contents might
be used as excellent examples of bigotry and ignorance. How appropriate that a
socialist city should be so keen to kick the working man. Jeff Pickering
On the 28th September I parked my car at Tavistock Place, as I do about
4 times a week, I paid for 3 hours but as the tickets are not the stick-on type,
it blew off the dash as I closed the door. So I displayed it on the driver's door
tucked under the rubber at the top, clearly visible for any one who was about
to enforce a penalty. To my horror and as I entered the gate I saw the summons
stuck to the windscreen. I then spoke to other drivers in the car park who clearly
saw my ticket displayed and was told this was typical and an inconvenience. I
wrote to NCP sending them a copy of my penalty and the parking ticket, I received
a reply and to my disbelief they said and I quote: that on this occasion the penalty
charge notice has been cancelled however I must inform you that I may not take
a similar approach with any future recurrence?
What does this mean? That
the next time the traffic warden leaves his specs at home or doesn't have the
sense to take a look at the actual reason he/she is giving the penalty, then I
will be penalised for it? Rita Burke
|
听 | 
听听Inside
Out - North East: Monday November 20, 2006