Father wins battle with Camden Council over faded loading bay signs near Royal Free Hospital

A motorist has won his battle with Camden parking chiefs over faded road markings near the Royal Free Hospital.

Simon Worth was handed a parking ticket for leaving his car in a loading bay in South End Road when visiting his 11-year-old daughter after a hip operation at the hospital in Pond Street, Hampstead.

Camden Council parking officers initially refused to cancel the ticket after he protested that the “loading only” road markings had disappeared.

They insisted there was “no legal requirement for the words loading bay to be marked in a loading bay” when the fine was challenged in March.

But they have now backed down after an officer admitted that a site check has revealed that the lines are “slightly faded”.

The officer cancelled the ticket and apologised for the inconvenience to Mr Worth, 48, who believed he was in a regular parking spot and even bought a pay-and-display ticket.

He said: “They have really wasted my time. I’m self-employed and it eats into my working day.

“They need to repaint the lines, otherwise they will be catching more and more people.”