A MOTORIST who challenged a parking ticket claiming the space was not properly marked is celebrating after getting it overturned.

Kit Thompson said the Vineyard car park in Colchester was so poorly lit he could not see the yellow cross hatch markings indicating parking was forbidden.

When he returned in daylight, the marks were so worn they were still difficult to see.

After Mr Thompson raised the issue Martin Hunt, councillor responsible for street and waste service, said he would personally visit the car park to investigate the state of the markings.

Mr Thompson, 59, of Queensland Drive in Colchester, said: “I accused the council of not painting the area to make it clear to motorists that the car-shaped space was not to be parked on.”

At the time, Colchester Council wrote to Mr Thompson saying it felt the markings were clear enough and there were no plans to re-paint them.

Then, Mr Thompson said he received an anonymous e-mail saying Colchester traffic wardens had been told to stop issuing tickets to vehicles parked in the spot he was fined.

He said: “Following my second challenge to the council, in which I enclosed a copy of the e-mail and told them how I had come by it, the council have written back to me cancelling the parking charge notice.

“It stated they accept my argument it was probably too dark to see the markings clearly, and they now admit the yellow lines were badly worn.

“I’m obviously very glad that I am no longer liable to pay any fine and I don’t have the prospect of fighting the council in court.

“But the main thing is, if the e-mail is genuine, no one else should fall foul of the traffic wardens now if they accidentally park in the same spot.”