Posted on 09/05/2004 8:13:20 PM PDT by martin_fierro
Swedish snowmobile booked for traffic offence -- 1,200 kilometres away
Sun Sep 5,12:51 PM ET
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A Swedish snowmobile owner said he had received a parking ticket for an offence allegedly committed in Britain -- 1,200 kilometres (750 miles) away.
"My snowmobile has been in the barn during the summer, together with another broken snowmobile," Krister Nylander, a mechanic from the northern Swedish town of Bollstrabruk told AFP.
Nylander said he received a "fine" of 1,211 kronor (158 dollars, 131 euros) for illegally parking his snowmobile in Warwick in central England, apparently sent out by Euro Parking Collection, which specializes in recovering fines for cross-border traffic offences.
"I was last in Great Britain 16 years ago and at that time the conditions for snowmobiles didn't seem particulary good," he quipped.
Nylander, who said he will not pay the fine, is not the only Swede puzzled by demands from the London-based company.
Patrik Andersson, in Ursviken, northern Sweden, received a demand for payment of 1,400 kronor from the same company for allegedly driving his green Skoda in a central London bus lane.
Andersson told local newspaper Norra Vaesterbotten that "he would not mind at all going to London for a weekend trip" but that neither he, nor his car, were anywhere near Britain when the infraction is said to have occurred.
The Swedish Consumer Association said it has received 37 complaints about invoices sent to Swedes by Euro Parking Collection over the past two years.
Agneta Gillback, head of the consumer rights organisation Konsument Europa, said she recommends motorists should write to Euro Parking Collection to correct the error.
"The company has been negligent and they should improve their routines", she told AFP.
The complaints received by Konsument Europa include one filed by another snowmobile owner, and even a tractor owner.
According to its website, the company was founded in 1998 and offers the opportunity for authorities, councils, corporations, parking providers and police forces to enforce payments of parking fines issued to foreign registered vehicles.
Euro Parking Collection could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Hej/Sweden/Ping/Etc.
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