Ealing Council Relent on Charity Worker Parking Fines


Andrew Mcleay had been ticketed even though he had an exemption

Andrew McLeay
Andrew McLeay

An Ealing charity worker facing a big bill after he received two parking tickets can now tear them up.

After initially refusing his appeal, Ealing Council have decided to cancel both tickets.

Andrew Mcleay was helping provide meals for people in need during the pandemic. To do the job he needed to bring his car into central Ealing and he understood he had a parking dispensation as a key worker. He was told by a parking attendant he would not be ticketed.

However, he later received two Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) which could have cost him £220 each and he felt was doubly unjust as the work he did was helping the council’s efforts to deal with the problems raised by the pandemic.

It transpired that his registration should have been entered on a system to ensure he got the exemption. He had been under such pressure at work that he had not realised he needed to do this.

After being told of the cancellation of the ticket Andrew said, "I want to thank the community of Ealing also, for standing by me and thank the Ealing councillors and local MP Rupa Huq who all went into bat for me. I'm a nobody, and yet Ealingites lifted me on their shoulders and for a day I felt like a champion and they really showed what it means to keep the amazing spirit of Ealing burning. So many people offered to pay my fines and were so generous towards me. I couldn't ask for a more wonderful, caring community.

"I'm very thankful to the council for getting this decision right and for all their hard work with this matter. I'm really pleased with the result and it really restores my faith. I know there are many at the council working tirelessly for the people of Ealing and so thrilled the council also supported me in a tough, complex case."

An Ealing Council spokesperson said, “The council has taken into consideration the circumstances of these two tickets and although Mr McLeay did not apply for key worker dispensation until after the 2nd ticket was issued, has decided to cancel both tickets.”

Andrew works at the Ealing Soup Kitchen which has been providing vital support from St John’s Church during the coronavirus outbreak with demand increasing due to the resulting economic impact. He is one of the staff that keep the kitchen going to provide this important service. He has been working throughout the pandemic as a key worker for hundreds of families and homeless people.

Ealing Soup Kitchen is used by several hundred people each week and is currently providing takeaway food and home deliveries. Andrew was inspired to do the work there after he himself experienced a brief period of homelessness when he arrived in this country from Australia in 2008.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.