The mayor of Croydon has stated that he will not issue an apology to a resident whose legally parked vehicle had a disabled parking bay marked around it, resulting in the owner receiving four fines.

CCTV footage that circulated on social media depicted a contractor measuring and painting lines around a car that was parked on an unrestricted street outside the owner’s residence while he was on vacation.

The resident, who prefers to remain anonymous and lives in New Addington, south London, criticized Mayor Jason Perry’s reaction as “disgraceful.”

Previously, Croydon Council had “apologised for the confusion” and noted that “the tickets were annulled a week prior to the video being shared online.”

Four penalty charge notices (PCNs) were issued between November 22 and November 26, after the parking bay was established on November 17.

During a council meeting on December 10, Labour councillor Kola Agboola from New Addington North pressed the mayor for a public apology and clarification.

While Perry recognized that an error had occurred, he maintained that painting bays around parked cars is a “fairly common practice.”

The car owner informed the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that he shared the video online due to previous issues he had encountered with the council regarding parking.

Agboola stated that the situation had sparked “a surge of online harassment” directed at himself, other local residents, and the parking warden. He sought guarantees that such incidents would not be repeated.

He further questioned whether the car owner would have faced unwarranted fines had he not shared the footage, as well as how many other “innocent motorists across Croydon” had been similarly affected.

In response, the mayor asserted, “I believe the answer is no, no, and no.”

He reiterated that the owner was not fined because the tickets “were not enforced.”

“There is no reason for an apology, as this matter was resolved. This is quite standard practice,” he explained.

He mentioned that it is common to paint disabled bays around vehicles when necessary.

“If we are installing disabled bays in this borough and a car is in the way—perhaps left for two weeks while someone is on holiday—we will paint the bay around the vehicle,” he clarified.

The mayor added that contractors typically record the license plates of any cars present when bays are painted, which should help avoid issuing tickets.

However, he recognized that the warden erred by failing to document the exemption in this instance.

Perry also raised questions about the reasons behind the video’s posting online.

“The entire episode was carried out before someone decided to share those images on social media, so we should consider why those images were posted in the first place,” he remarked to the council.

The car owner responded, “If we expect to be treated with respect, then an apology is warranted because they made an error.”

He strongly dismissed the mayor’s insinuations about his intentions, asserting that he shared the footage due to ongoing issues with Croydon’s parking enforcement in his neighborhood.