Public being caught out by parking rules on Kirkcaldy High Street

Anita Nicol (78) and her daughter Linzie ((42) of the town’s Raith Drive took Anita’s brother and sister-in-law from Aberdeen, who are also blue badge holders, to do some shopping in the High Street, and they parked in the pedestrian zone just outside the Salvation Army premises.

They were horrified on returning to their vehicle to discover a warden about to attach a ticket to the windscreen.

“It was just after noon and the reason I had taken them down on the Tuesday was because I knew you could park there all day until 5pm,” explained Anita.

“I was under the impression that you could park there the whole day for the whole length of the High Street with a blue badge. I felt horrified and guilty that I had made the suggestion and they got a ticket.”

The parking attendant explained to them that there are three sections of the pedestrianised zone where traffic is not allowed to park – an area outside the sushi shop at the bottom of Kirk Wynd, about four car lengths at the bottom of Bell Inn Wynd where they were parked, and the same again outside Dorothy Perkins.

“The tiny sign on the wall said no loading and I took that to mean that was for commercial vehicles,” explained Anita.

“I asked in Shopmobility and the man there said he hadn’t even known about it and when I asked some of the other shoppers and traders they said they hadn’t realised either!

“I thought the council was supposed to be encouraging people to shop on the High Street, but this will definitely put them off.”

Anita’s brother appealed the decision as soon as the ticket became live and was amazed that by the time he arrived home in Aberdeen just two days later that it had been turned down.

“We just can’t believe that this has happened,” added Anita. “These signs need to be made much clearer. Nobody knows this is a no parking zone and I want to warn others not to get caught out.”

David Brown, service manager, network management, said: ““Blue badge holders are permitted to park on the left hand side of the pedestrian zone in the High Street where there is not a ban on loading.

“The area where this vehicle was parked was in a no waiting/no loading restricted area which was clearly indicated by signs to the front and rear of the vehicle. Therefore a blue badge is invalid in this location, as indicated in the blue badge rights and responsibilities booklet, and the Penalty Charge Notice was issued correctly.”