Merton Council has apologised after it was accused of doctoring evidence submitted to a parking appeal.

Abdul Majid was ticketed on December 19, 2012, for appearing to stray into the bus lane at the bottom of Wimbledon Hill Road.

The pensioner appealed the ticket with Patas, the independent parking tribunal, claiming the bus lane was not adequately signposted.

Then on the day of the appeal hearing he was shocked to see a photograph submitted by the council which contradicted his claim.

The picture showed a sign indicating the end of the bus lane situated before its end, when in fact the real sign is positioned several feet beyond the end of the lane.

A council spokesman said: "We would like to reassure people that the photograph was not altered in any way.

"In fact a genuine error was made.

"A photograph was taken of this area following a change in the road markings and this was incorrectly submitted to the appeals service, instead of the correct image taken previously.

"We are really sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

"Such photographs are supplied to the appeals service to give them a broader understanding of the road layout and it is only the real time images from the CCTV that are used to determine whether or not any appeal should be upheld."

Khalid Majid, Mr Majid's son, said: "I'm slightly sceptical of their explanation in all honesty.

"I would have expected them to double check that before submitting it.

"I’m not really terribly impressed by that.

"But that said ultimately the case went in our favour.

"I hope in the future they are a bit more through with their documentation as these things are submitted before a court of law."

Merton Council was found to have unfairly ticketed Mr Majid whose penalty charge was quashed by the appeal's board.

 

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