3 April (Part 1) - Bexley council are not good eggs
I expect you saw
the News Shopper’s report on Bexley council ticketing cars on Good Friday
which were parked alongside notices proclaiming free parking on Bank Holidays. The police
were called to keep the peace - or maybe do Bexley council’s bidding.
The problem is that Good Friday is not strictly speaking a Bank Holiday as it
was not included in the relevant legislation in 1871. Back in those God fearing days
Good Friday was already accepted as a holiday (literally) and there was no need
to include it in the list of newly prescribed holidays. Easter Monday, Whit
Monday, first Monday in August and Boxing Day.
Nowadays Good Friday is widely accepted as a Bank Holiday even though
pedantically it isn’t. The Government’s website
lists it as a Bank Holiday.
Maybe that isn’t good enough for Bexley’s parking gestapo.
In other parts of the country where dishonesty and deception is not the norm
they do things rather differently. I took the photo (click to enlarge) over the weekend
just to add it to the collection, never dreaming I would find a use for it so
quickly. No one could be left in any doubt as to what the charging situation was. Note the board
leaning against the ticket machine and the specific inclusion of Public Holidays
as free days in addition to Bank Holidays. You might also notice the price of 30 pence per hour.