Barry Beavis has lost his challenge against his ‘unfair’ parking fine. The case depended upon whether the Supreme Court found the £85 parking ticket for overstaying by an hour was a penalty which would mean the charge would need to bear a relation to the loss incurred by the landowner. The majority of the Judges found it was not a penalty but a means of controlling access to the car park. The fine was a risk the motorist took if he overstayed. It would be interesting to see what the Judges would have had to say if he had only overstayed by a few minutes. Would they have taken the view the amount was excessive ?
