A SPECIAL Constable has questioned whether Barnet Council really does “put the community first” after a row over a parking ticket.

Eliot Molyneux-Wright, of Carnarvon Road, Woodford, was fined on April 13 when he stopped to pick his uniform up from Hendon Police College.

The 26-year-old left his car in Eagle Drive, Colindale, before 1pm but people are banned from parking there between 2pm and 3pm.

However his appointment was unexpectedly delayed and he did not return back to his car until 2.15pm.

He said: “I’d been advised there was no on-site parking so I looked around for somewhere to park.

“I thought I’d have plenty of time as appointments usually take 20 minutes. However, the appointment overran and when I got back to my car, I have been given a ticket.

“I had only been there for 15 minutes into the prohibited time. The bays were empty at the time I got the ticket, which means residents weren’t using them and I wasn’t causing an obstruction.”

The student appealed the ticket, he claims was issued unnecessarily, but they stood firm and told him he had to pay it.

But he has been left furious as he does not get paid for his special constable role and volunteers his own time to protect the community.

He added: “I appealed to the council’s better nature. It really isn’t in the community’s best interests for the council to pursue this punishment.

“It made me laugh because on the correspondence I got from them, the tagline is ‘Putting The Community First’, but they really should change that to ‘Putting The Money First’ because that’s clearly all they care about.

“It’s very frustrating. At the end of the day, I accept that technically I was parked somewhere I shouldn’t have been at the time, but given the circumstances which I fully explained to them, you’d think that anyone with a community spirit would cancel the ticket.

“I told them in my correspondence, you’ve got to look beyond the money and think what’s best for the community and show a bit of correspondence and understanding.”

A statement from Barnet Council, who the authority refused to name, said: “While we recognize and support the contribution that special constable make to our community, we cannot automatically exempt certain groups from parking penalties.

“We would recommend that this person appeals to Parking and Traffic Appeals Service if he wants to take the matter further.”