This year I have felt victimised by Ealing Council. Early in the year it seems that I had accidentally strayed into a bus lane. I was not informed of this until three months after the alleged contravention and a three figure sum was demanded. A few days before the deadline for payment, I sent off the cheque. A few days later my cheque cleared. Yet I was still sent a warning to pay another fine for non-payment of the original fine which had now been doubled. It seemed that my cheque, although in all probability reached them by the deadline, was not regarded as payment on time since cheques take time to clear.
Being a cantankerous fellow I decided to allow Ealing to take me to court for payment believing that the District Judge may sympathise with my predicament. This was a bad move on my part. Although there are plenty of Courts in London, they chose to take the case to a court in Northampton. Naturally most people would not travel four counties to put their case and I was no exception. I was forced to pay up.
My short ingress into a bus lane had cost me about