Towing charge refunded

The police have been forced to refund the Lm45 charge for a car towed from St Paul's Street, Valletta, following the intervention of the Ombudsman.

In his Case Notes for October 2003, the Ombudsman explains that a man had parked on the pavement, with the front of his car protruding into a yellow "no parking" bay in front of a garage. However, the driver was adamant that he had not impeded access to the garage, as the bay extended 6.69 metres.

He claimed that the yellow bay - painted by Valletta local council - had not been approved by the Traffic Control Board and was therefore illegal. In any case, the bay was longer than normally allowed.

The owner of the garage had called the police in to tow the car away but the Ombudsman found that the car could have been reversed and that the police officer who authorised the tow had not verified this for himself.

The Ombudsman concluded that the yellow bay was against traffic regulations regarding free access to garages and seemed to bestow parking rights upon the owner of the garage which are not sanctioned by law.

Since the ruling, the council agreed to reduce the length of the parking bay.

However, the Ombudsman did not get any reply from the council with regard to the claim that the yellow bay was illegally painted.