AN audacious attempt to avoid a parking fine looks set to fail.
A photograph of coins left on the dashboard of a car at Young St East car park has been widely circulated on social media sites such as Facebook this month amid calls for Frankston Council to drop a parking fine.
A note next to the coins stated: ‘MACHINE DIDN’T TAKE MY COINS’.
The cash and message about the malfunctioning parking meter failed to deter a council parking officer from slapping an infringement notice on the car’s windscreen.
Social media users urged council to drop the $74 fine but there seems little chance that this will happen.
Council CEO Dennis Hovenden said every parking machine in the municipality clearly displays a telephone number to call to report faults.
“There were no reports of the machine in question being faulty on that day,” he said.
“When a fault is reported the driver’s details are recorded in case an infringement is later issues so it can be reviewed.”
Mr Hovenden said infringements can be contested by lodging an appeal with council.
“Even in the instance of a faulty machine, coins on the dashboard are not considered a valid attempt to purchase a ticket, the fault must be reported.”
A Facebook reader commented: “These are the cases you hope will end up in court and hopefully the newspaper. Surely the council don’t want to be made to look foolish in public.”
