A MOTORIST has called on Bradford Council to make its car park signs clearer after winning a battle over a parking ticket.

Frank Goad, of Keighley, said there were “lots of people getting caught out” by the wording of the signs, saying they could be easily misread to give the wrong impression that parking after 6pm was free.

Mr Goad was hit with a parking ticket earlier on this year in the Council’s city-centre Sharpe Street car park, but has since had it overturned by a parking adjudicator who accepted his claim that the signs were “misleading”.

But he said he feared many more motorists would be fined if the Council didn’t alter their signs. He said: “They definitely need changing. There are lots of people getting caught out.”

The signs first list the car park charges applicable from Monday to Saturday, 8am to 6pm, followed by the charges from Monday to Saturday, 6pm to midnight, and lastly the Sunday charges.

Mr Goad, 74, said in March he had taken his wife Sandra to the Alhambra Theatre as a birthday treat. They parked in Sharpe Street at around 5.15pm and after reading the top of the sign, he had assumed he could pay for an hour’s parking, before it became free at 6pm. He said when they returned to their car, they were not the only motorists who had been fined.

And he said the Council had similar signs in other car parks too. He said: “There are other car parks with similar signs. They’re not exactly the same, but it’s that added bit at the bottom. A friend of mine two weeks ago got done in a very similar car park to Sharpe Street. He’s going through the same process of appealing as well.”

Mr Goad urged anyone in a similar position to appeal the fine.

But it will be bad news for anyone who has already paid up. The Traffic Penalty Tribunal says anyone who wants to challenge a penalty charge notice should not pay it because if they do, the council will close the case and that will be the end of it.

The Telegraph & Argus asked Bradford Council whether it would be reviewing its car park signage and how many people had been caught out.

The authority did not respond to these questions but a spokesman said: “We carefully examine all judgements given by the adjudicator and decide the best action to take to improve the experience for car park users.”