Ref. 29479-48A TRADER in Swindon's Market Hall is refusing to pay three parking tickets because he claims yellow lines are in the wrong place.

John Phillips is the owner of Smiles Party World, which for 10 years has sold party supplies ranging from single streamers to entire event packages.

He says his problems began last September when Swindon Council took over the policing of double yellow lines from traffic wardens.

The kerbstones at the Commercial Road loading bay for the Market Hall, says Mr Phillips, was once marked mistakenly with double yellow lines, and these were not removed when single ones were added. The result, he says, is that wardens think there can be no stopping there at any time,

When contacted by the Evening Advertiser, Swindon's head of parking services, Tony Foss, said he would investigate, and stressed that one of his missions was to help local businesses rather than hinder them.

In the last six months, Mr Phillips says he has:

l Been wrongly given £60 tickets three times.

l Been told by a warden to move his car from the bay within 30 seconds or be ticketed in spite of the fact that Mr Phillips was unloading a gas bottle at the time, and that his car was clearly marked as being a company vehicle.

l Having a note left on his car by a warden as he unloaded, saying "next time your be booked" (sic).

l Being threatened with a booking by a warden who refused to accept his explanation that he was unloading, because, she said, he was driving a car and not a van.

Mr Phillips said: "I refuse to pay these tickets. I just see them as a form of bullying, and I do not kowtow to bullying.

"As far as I am concerned, I am conducting my lawful business and being harassed."

Mr Foss said he would send a member of his staff to the loading bays to assess the situation and arrange any necessary amendments to the markings.

He added: "Parking enforcement is not about stopping the economic vitality of the town centre.

"It is extremely important to me that that vitality remains strong.

"We clearly need to enforce parking regulations as part of that, but have to strike the correct balance between parking enforcement and making sure that the vitality is maintained.

"I shall be making an investigation about the legality of the parking area, as well as the situation with regard to this particular person."

Barri Hudson