A BASINGSTOKE business owner says he has ‘caught out’ the borough council being ‘disingenuous’ about parking fines issued on Boxing Day last year.

Alan Stone, who runs Squirrels Antiques in Joices Yard, was upset when he heard that Basingstoke council had been charging people for parking in council-run car parks on December 26, which fell on a Saturday last year.

He said that, while the bank holiday moved to the Monday, Boxing Day - or St Stephen’s Day - remains a public holiday even on a Saturday, and that parking signs indicated that public holidays were exempt from charges.

Alan told the Gazette: “They decided that boxing day didn’t exist last year. They decided that, because it fell on a Saturday, the public holiday moved to the Monday, but this isn’t true.

“If it doesn’t fall on a Sunday, it is still a public holiday, while the bank holiday is moved to the next working day. Public holiday and bank holiday isn’t the same thing.”

The definition of a public holiday in the Cambridge English dictionary is “a day when almost everyone in a particular country does not have to go to work or school”, while the definition for a bank holiday is “an official holiday when banks and most businesses are closed for a day”.

Alan said: “We started to try and prove that boxing day was a public holiday, which we have done. We got all the evidence, but the council wouldn’t admit it.”

He continued: “Which, if you follow it forward, means that Christmas day does not exist this year. The council is trying to steal Christmas!”

Alan said that, in the initial case he was alerted to, the person was able to get their ticket overturned by the ombudsman, which claimed the signage was “ambiguous”, but did not “come down on a side regarding Boxing Day”.

So, Alan said he began writing Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the council.

In these requests, seen by the Gazette, he firstly asked why taxis were allowed to charge increased fares on boxing day last year if it wasn’t a public holiday, to which he said the response was “waffled”, stating it was a licensing agreement and had always been that way.

Alan then sent FOIs to the other borough councils under Hampshire County Council, and discovered that Basingstoke was the only one to issue fines on boxing day, of which they issued 30.

“A lot of the other councils also said it wasn’t a public holiday, but chose not to have any officers out,” he explained.

He added that he then had to prove that the council was being “disingenuous”, so he sent a request asking how many people were working on “this normal working day”, and discovered that the parking team was the only council team working.

“Boxing Day sales would normally have been on, if it wasn’t for the pandemic, and there would be hundreds and hundreds of cars parking, so it kind of backfired for them,” he said.

He added that the reason given by the council’s Human Resources team for the lack of workers who would usually be present on a Saturday was because it was a public holiday.

“It looks like the council is trying to have its cake and eat it!” he said.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s head of environmental services, Tom Payne, said: “Thirty penalty charge notices were issued across Basingstoke and Deane on Saturday 26 December 2020, which was not a public holiday. The substitute public holiday for Boxing Day, set by parliament, was on Monday 28 December 2020.

“Signage at our car parks, and our website clearly state that charges apply 24 hours a day Monday to Sunday with no charge on public holidays. The only exception to this is Good Friday, when normal charges apply.”

Alan says that he has spent several months chasing up what may seem small because he believes parking issues will be crucial in “revilitising” the town.

“If we want to revitalize town centres, we have no choice but to make them interesting, fun, safe, and easy to use. They are going to continue to die if something is not done,” he said.

When asked what he would like to see happen now, he added: “I want [the council] to reimburse the people who were fined for parking on Boxing Day. And I would like to see them make sure that the parking officers who were forced to work get double pay and a day off in lieu.

“And leave Christmas Day alone this year!”

However, Tom Payne added: ““The council will not be issuing refunds for Penalty Charge Notices correctly and lawfully issued on 26 December 2020.

“The council is aware that the public holidays for this Christmas will fall on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December and will erect additional signage in the car parks to clarify parking charges over the festive season.”