East Oxford folk blame Royal Mail for penalty charge notices

Residents in Iffley Fields claim they never received a letter from Oxfordshire County Council reminding them to pay for their continued use of the controlled parking zone in the area.

Unaware that their permits had expired, between 10 to 20 of them have been issued penalty charge notices over the last month.

READ MORE: Oxford: Eagle and Child pub with Tolkien links sale

Some have chosen to boycott the payments and a residents association has demanded that all fines should be rescinded.

The council claims it sent the letters and said the “root of this problem is with the postal service.”

Royal Mail admitted it was experiencing delays in the area due to a lack of staff.

Royal Mail admitted it was experiencing delays in the area due to a lack of staff.

Residents have reported only receiving post once every two weeks.

Jon Rees, vice chairman of Iffley Fields Residents Association, said: “As far was we can tell, no one in the entire area has had a reminder letter.”

He has paid for a permit since the controlled parking zone was introduced in Iffley Fields in 2018, but was fined on Monday (October 23) because he did not renew it in time.

He has not yet paid the fine, which could rise as high as £70.

“It’s basically bananas,” he said.

Councillor Damian Haywood standing in Iffley Fields, where many residents have complained to him about being issued penalty charge notices (Image: Ed Nix)

Damian Haywood, who is county councillor for the area, said he had received countless phone calls and emails about the issue.

“Because they haven’t had the reminder letters, people have not gone online and renewed their permits,” he said.

“They are being unnecessarily fined because of the situation.”

READ MORE: Oxford Headington car park to go cashless, says city council

Both Mr Rees and Mr Haywood also questioned why the council sent out reminders by post, rather than email.

Mr Haywood said: “I do think it’s a bit of a nonsense that we don’t have a system set up to remind people by email.

“It seems like they’re stuck in the last century.”

Mr Rees added: “They really should have sent out an email renewal reminder. And when I logged into the council website, it doesn’t tell you when your permit expires.”

A council spokesperson said: “We are acting swiftly to work with the affected residents to ensure that they have a valid permit and that any penalty notices they have incorrectly received are dealt with quickly.

“The root of this problem is with the postal service and not of our making at the county council.

“However we appreciate people’s frustrations and want to have the issue sorted out as quickly as we can.”

Royal Mail said it was actively recruiting to bring more staff into the delivery office.