Leeds City Council has had to hand back and cancel fines because its wardens were ticketing taxi ranks – which it had no power over.

It is only the police who can issue parking tickets on the taxi ranks affected, including one in Armley Town Street, outside The Barber Shop.

Shop owner Ken De-Vine said he had got a handful of tickets at the rank.
"Where else can I put my car?" he said."I want to be able to see it. If I park at the baths it gets vandalised so I park it outside my shop.

"There are never any taxis there. In eight years of trading I have never seen a taxi there.
"It's the daftest idea ever and a complete waste of a parking space."

He said there were not enough parking facilities in the area – which has limited two-hour parking in some parts – and urged Leeds City Council to rethink its parking restrictions policy.

Coun Alison Lowe (Lab, Armley) – who also got caught out parking on the taxi rank – acknowledged she shouldn't have put her car there in the first place, but added: "I was using a local business, putting money into Armley Town Street to keep it alive and vibrant. But there's no parking space here anymore."

A council spokesman confirmed 18 tickets issued by the council on four taxi ranks in Armley and the city centre were not valid.
He said the two motorists who had already paid their fines would get their money back and the other fines have now been cancelled.

But he added: "Taxi ranks are clearly marked and are there to ensure taxi drivers have a designated place to stop and pick up fares.

"It would have been obvious to the 946 motorists issued with tickets in Leeds since the council took over their enforcement in 2007 that they are not parking bays. 928 of the tickets were issued in the city centre and are legally enforceable by the council.

"However the enforcement of the rank in Armley and three others outside the city centre currently remain the responsibility of the police and the 18 tickets issued by the council are not valid. The transfer of this responsibility to the council is underway."

Mustafa Jamali, who runs Jamali's school uniform and hardware shop on Armley Town Street, said he had had six tickets in the past few months and the taxi rank was not the real issue.

"The problem is there is nowhere else to keep our cars," he said.

"We have stock in the car which we need to load and unload. If we leave anything in it, it will get nicked.


* Coun Lowe is standing for election in Armley in May. Other candidates are Michael Croke (Green); Shaun Fitzpatrick (BNP); Jeremy Kapp (Cons); and Christopher Lovell (Lib Dem).