In the dark, dead-end street... fair game for parking warden

The car's owner says he thought the time was an error. Photo / Greg Bowker

A Pt Chevalier man received a $200 ticket just before 2am this week from an Auckland parking warden for an expired vehicle registration on a car parked in a small cul-de-sac street.

Resident Harry Wood said although his vehicle did not have a current registration and was therefore liable for a fine, he wanted to know why the parking warden was working at that time of the morning.

"I was parked on the side of the road, down a very quiet little no-exit road," he said.

He said it seemed unusual parking wardens would be in the area because it wasn't a very busy area.

"It's not near any shopping centres or anything like that. You can't get further out of the way."

When he saw he had been fined at 1.47am on Monday morning, Mr Wood assumed a mistake had been made regarding the time of day it was issued.

"I rang the number [on the ticket] and the woman confirmed those details were correct."

Mr Wood believes while it's still legal for Auckland Transport to do so, it's unethical for fines to be handed out during the earliest hours of the morning. One concern he had was he thought most people were unaware this was happening.

"You just don't expect it in the middle of the night, you don't expect people to be lurking around in the streets."

Auckland Transport's communications and media manager Sharon Hunter confirmed it was not unusual for wardens to be working in the early hours of the morning.

"We have a night shift. Yes that's normal," she said. Night shift wardens work from 6pm through to 3am.

Mrs Hunter said Auckland Transport wardens did not work to a monthly quota of tickets.

She also said issues such as warrant of fitness, or in this case registration of a vehicle, were considered "safety issues" and not an issue of impeding any other vehicles or people.

She said said fines from tickets issued stayed with Auckland Transport and were put towards developing Auckland's transport system.