Van driver uses loophole to avoid £100s in parking fines – but there’s a catch

A VAN driver who used a loophole to avoid paying £100s in parking tickets has been discovered by police.

People are in shock after discovering his tactic to avoid the fines, which totalled nearly £400.

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James Barford from Cotgrave has been ordered to pay more than £2,000 after he parked illegally several times and lied that he was making deliveries.

As reported in Leicestershire Live, Barford has to pay £2,200 in fines, costs and compensation after producing fake delivery notes and invoices to avoid at least 11 parking tickets.

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The 34-year-old was fined several times for parking illegally in a loading bay and a residents parking zone in Leicester, where he works.

Barford claimed he was making deliveries for a firm called JB Designs Ltd.

However, JB Designs Ltd is not registered with Companies House.

On other occasions, he said he was working for Pivotal Retail Marketing, but it was later discovered he had never worked for them.

Bradford initially denied the allegations, but during an interview in March, he admitted that he was faking delivery notes to avoid the fines.

He said he had fabricated the delivery notes because he was struggling financially.

He pleaded guilty to 11 charges under the Fraud Act for making the fake documents and was fined £846 for fabricating the delivery notes, charged £677 in costs, and £630 in compensation.

He was also ordered to pay £85 to compensate a victim.

The 11 parking fines would have cost him just £35 if he paid them within 14 days – in total, the cost would have been £385.

Councillor Piara Singh Clair, Leicester deputy city mayor, said: “The defendant was repeatedly parking illegally in areas close to his work and when he was caught out, he faked documents to make it look like he was making deliveries.

“Not only was he trying to avoid paying for parking, but he was also providing fake invoices to try to dodge paying the parking fines he’d incurred. That is quite simply fraud.”