Stalked by a parking warden

Plamen Florov. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Tank driver Plamen Florov was part of Bulgaria's first line of defence in the event of a Nato attack during the Cold War.

Now driving taxis in Auckland, he is facing another formidable foe - the parking wardens of Auckland City Council.

But not all the wardens have Florov's dander up.

There's just one - a warden who moonlights as a taxi driver for a competing company who has, in just a few years, given VIP Taxis' Florov 10 tickets for a range of alleged parking offences.

Florov is considering taking a case to the Court of Appeal after his effort to overturn a $60 ticket at the Auckland High Court was tossed out this month. He had appealed that ticket after losing a case at the Auckland District Court.

"I have spent $120 to defend this $60 ticket," said Florov. "It feels wrong to me - that is why I will carry on."

While Florov might be counting the cost, Auckland ratepayers are in the same position. An Auckland City spokesman said the council had spent $3000 on the case so far.

Florov is accustomed to struggle - he once drove a T62 tank on Bulgaria's border during the Cold War.

His battle with the council turned legal after he was given a ticket by the parking warden at 3am on September 13 last year. The warden also works for Alert Taxis.

Florov had collected a fare from the Viaduct area and was directed to an apartment in Parnell. On the way, the passenger asked him to stop so she could pick up a key to get into the apartment from her flatmate.

Florov pulled up outside a building and waited while his fare collected the key - and was nabbed by the parking warden.

Unwittingly, court documents claim, Florov had parked in a bus stop. The penalty, even though no buses were running, was $60.

Judge Ailsa Duffy said Florov's decision to represent himself made it difficult for him to pursue many of the defences he raised. Among those defences was the claim that the warden had given him 10 tickets in just a few years. Florov claimed that he had previously picked up just one or two a year.

Duffy said that Auckland City parking records for the offence were inaccurate and gave the impression that the ticket had been issued to a private car parked in a bus stop. The inaccurate details might have led Auckland City to reject Florov's initial request to be let off the ticket.

She said other details including the "conduct of the parking officer" meant the grounds for an "abuse of process defence" had begun to emerge - but could not be made when the case was being heard on appeal.

Duffy dismissed the case, stating the Florov needed a lawyer to push it further.

Florov said he could not understand how a parking warden could also work as a taxi driver - and target other taxi drivers.

"I was out during the day and I saw this guy driving a taxi. Then at night I see the same guy being a parking warden. How does he find so many hours in the day?"

He had since used a camera to photograph the driver whenever he saw him working - including illegally parking in his taxi.

An Auckland City spokesman did not return calls for comment. The spokesman emailed a statement which said: "Auckland City Council is satisfied that at all times its treatment of Mr Florov was fair and that at no time was he targeted by any of our parking officers."

Florov is also planning to contest the nine other parking tickets issued by the warden.

The warden/taxi driver did not respond to requests for comment.

david.fisher@hos.co.nz