No Parking ticket, will there be a fine

[ZXR]

A friend went shopping the other day and as they were only going for a couple of items decided to park their car in a pay & display without buying a ticket. The shopping took a less than five minutes and when they returned to the car a council warden was there inspecting their screen, looking for a valid ticket. When the car was unlocked the warden asked if it was their car to which they replied no, got into the car and drove off. There was no parking fine attached to the screen and no attempt was made by the warden to put on on there. This happened in early September and so far nothing more has been heard form the council.
My questions are
1. Can the council issue a fine / ticket in this case without putting it on the screen.

2. How long can the council leave it it be before issuing a fine (is there a time limit such as 3 weeks as with speeding nips etc.)

[Nosha123]

As far as I am aware - the law changed quite recently that a warden does not actually have to issue you with the notice and if you drive off you can expect to receive a demand in the post - however - since this happened in Sept.. and I think you have to pay within 28 days then they send the reminder - I would say he never got as far as getting your details! So think you could be safe!
Prior to the law changing - the warden had to actually hand you the notice or attach it to the vehicle and you could legally drive off if they were still filling it in!
As for time limit - I believe they allow a reduced fine if paid within 14 days or else the full amount within 28 days - so you could be OK

[rov1200]

This happened to someone I knew. They drove off whilst the warden wa making the ticket out but he had no time to fix it to the windscreen. After a few weeks they thought they had escaped the fine but soon after received a reminder with double the fine as no fine had been paid. They were forced to reply to the reminder stating their case and eventually had the fine reduced to the lower fine.

[Coobeastie]

They'll be fine as the ticket wasn't issued, the post thing tends to be where the warden has been prevented from issuing through threat of violence etc.

One small moan though. A lot of councils won't allow genuine car park users time to get change now because of people who park with no intention of paying, they should have bought a ticket like everybody else in the car park.

[Mrs_Pegasus]

I used to audit traffic wardens! As far as I can remember, the TW would inspect a car and note the time it was spotted without a ticket and then leave 10 min before returning to see if a ticket had been purchased, if not then the car was booked. If your friends were indeed just "5 mins" then the chances are the TA would not have had time to photograph the car without a ticket and then 10 mins later still without a ticket.

I would say the friend has got off with it!

[becky070]

1. yes, this happened to me in Hull
2. would've thought you'd have heard by now if this happened in September