Two Swindon council vans clamped in £138,000 permit mix-up

Two council vans were clamped after the local authority failed to secure the correct parking permits for them.

Swindon Borough Council had to spend £138,000 to cover County Court Judgements as a result of the mistake, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The two vans were clamped while parked outside the council-owned Civic Offices on Euclid Street.

Emma Bushell, deputy leader at the council, said: “Clearly, this has not been the council’s finest hour. We regret this has happened, and will strive to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Ms Bushell was speaking to councillors as part of a debate on a motion put forward by the Conservative group’s deputy leader councillor Dale Heenan.

He told the chamber he did some digging and found the authority had been issued fines between March and August totalling £138,000.

He added: “This is not normal. It does not normally happen in this authority.”

Councillor Bushell said the fines, which caused the action taken by bailiffs, were paid “immediately, and the vehicles were unclamped”.

She explained that the incident occurred because the staff member responsible for handling permits had been unwell for an extended period.

She added: “Absolutely the council’s mistake, our fault entirely.”

Councillor Bushell said the council’s chief executive and its head of finance had already instructed the internal audit team to conduct an investigation into the matter, to ensure it could not happen again.