Driver wins parking fine case because details not provided in Welsh

A motorist has won a civil case against a parking firm over an unpaid £160 fine after requesting details of the penalty in Welsh rather than solely in English.

Elysteg Llwyd Thomas had been sent notice of the initial £60 fine in English after a stay at Lligwy beach in Anglesey, in August 2021.

Thomas, from Dyffryn Nantlle, Gwynedd, sent a reply to the company, Simple Intelligent Parking Ltd, stating that she would be ready to pay when it sent all of the correspondence bilingually, including a copy of the fine.

A court heard that Thomas’s request was ignored and she was informed that the penalty had been increased to £100, which was subsequently raised again to £160.

A judge ruled against Simple Intelligent Parking Ltd, which had not provided information bilingually.

Judge Merfyn Jones-Evans rejected the parking company’s application and issued a judicial warning that all signs in car parks in Wales should be bilingual.

Referring to the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, his ruling stated that notices in Welsh or English only were not “sufficient notices” in Wales.

Simple Intelligent Parking Ltd told Welsh broadcaster S4C Newyddion that it intended to appeal against the decision.

Thomas was represented in the case in Caernarfon by her father, Eifion Lloyd Jones, a member of Welsh-language campaign group Dyfodol i’r Iaith.

Mr Jones from Prion, Denbighshire, said he hoped the judge’s warning would lead to the end of Welsh people being penalised for asking for correspondence in Welsh but he anticipated the “struggle will continue for a while yet”.

Dylan Rhys Jones, head of the School of Law at Wrexham’s Glyndwr University, said he believed “absolutely no precedent” had been set by the case.

He told the BBC: “There can be another case heard next week and a decision to the contrary made.

“If people continue to challenge fines that are given in English only like this, and that companies realise that it is cheaper for them in a way to provide documentation in Welsh rather than going to court … then it is going to be cheaper for them to provide documents in Welsh.”

The parking company said: “We are waiting for the written judgment so that we can take the appropriate steps.

“However, we anticipate that we will appeal against the decision as it is wrong according to the law.”