About a year ago, after...

About a year ago, after plonking the four tyres of a 4x4 inside a legal bay at the side of the road, I put enough coins in the pay and display machine to stay for two hours. I did my bit. A privatised parking attendant in Gestapo-like uniform did not. Fifteen minutes before expiry time, a penalty charge notice was wrongly slapped on my screen. I desperately needed a witness to vouch for the fact the fine had been issued prematurely and unfairly. A passing uniformed cop obliged, confirming on a scrap of paper that my car had not overstayed its welcome. Also, he made it clear the authorities were wrong in their clumsy attempt to fine me.

How much "dirty" profit is being made for local councils by dubious parking attendants and wardens issuing tickets incorrectly?

Months later, in the same area, I parked kerbside in a quiet residential street. Even though there were no yellow lines or no-parking signs, I got a ticket. But this time, it was alleged I"d parked in a nearby street that DID have double lines.

Again, the onus was on me to prove my innocence - which I did with a written statement from my passenger, plus a photograph showing the car was NOT left where the Parking Taliban claimed. Did they have photographic evidence? No.

Move forward several weeks, and I took up one of two perfectly sized spaces in a purpose-built, off-street parking bay in the same quiet location. Yellow lines, no-parking signs and similar warnings were absent. But you"ve guessed it: I got a ticket from the mercenaries employed by the local council. Yet it was the same authority"s Highways Department which said I"d parked legitimately and, for good measure, that the bay didn"t belong to the council anyway.

Come Easter in a neighbouring town centre, I copped another unjustifiable ticket. But this time I had an opportunity to "discuss" the matter with the fleeing attendant. He didn"t doubt that I"d used the nearby pay and display machine to buy an hour"s parking time. Neither did he deny that he had issued me with a penalty charge notice only 15 minutes into my 60-minute stay.

How come? Because I didn"t "clearly display" the pay and display ticket I had bought. "It"s there, right in front of our eyes. What do you mean it"s not clearly displayed?" I uttered to the attendant as I jotted down the employee number he was not so proudly wearing on his thick, green uniform. "Er, well, I didn"t see it there," was his unconvincing reply.

Why am I telling you this? Because I don"t believe I"m the only car user to be wrongly and aggressively accused of breaking parking laws in the past year.

There"s nothing new in a parking attendant or warden pushing their luck, being a bit overzealous and issuing the occasional ticket that"s marginal or petty. But what I"ve experienced lately tells me something more sinister is going on. My own personal experiences prove that fines are being issued incorrectly and that such tickets are then quickly withdrawn when challenged.

But what if innocent motorists don"t have the time, resources, confidence or language skills to question the charges being made against them by dubious attendants and wardens hiding behind even dodgier local councils? How much "dirty" profit is being made in this way?

To find out, I"d like to hear from anyone who"s been wrongly fined in cut and dried cases similar to mine. And if there are any lawyers out there, I"d like to know if attendants who issue blatantly wrong penalty charge notices, the companies that employ them and the councils who (knowingly or otherwise) facilitate such abuse of the legal system are guilty of a serious crime called... perverting the course of justice?

Mike Rutherford writes for the Times, Daily Telegraph and Independent, presents ITV"s Pulling Power and is founder member of the Motorists" Association