The parking chief at a London council planning to slam motorists with permits costing up to £750 previously tried to quash tickets issued against him, MailOnline can reveal. 

Seamus Adams, who is responsible for rolling out a controversial 'sustainable streets' scheme in Lewisham, reportedly cancelled three of his own tickets because they were invalid. 

Mr Adams 'made an error of judgement' and should have 'referred the matter higher up' instead of taking it into his own hands, a council spokesperson said. 

It comes as Lewisham Council is expected to make thousands of pounds from fining motorists by rolling out new controlled parking zones across the borough.

Furious locals have been told if the plans go ahead they will have to pay for permits to park outside their own homes. 

While the prices vary, owners of the most-polluting diesel cars are now facing yearly charges of more than £300 and for those with non-compliant vans, the costs can reach £750, locals have said.

Mr Adams came under fire for quashing the invalid parking tickets while he was head of parking at Tower Hamlets local authority in 1998, according to a report in The Telegraph. 

Responding to the incident at the time, a council spokesperson said: 'The tickets he was issued with were technically invalid, so it was more an error of judgement than fraud against the council. 

'He should have referred the matter higher up.' 




Seamus Adams (pictured), who is responsible for rolling out a controversial 'sustainable streets' scheme in Lewisham, reportedly cancelled three of his own tickets because they were 'invalid'





Pictured: Mr Adams's Mercedes being towed away for not having a permit 





John Ohalloran, 54, a self-employed painter and decorator said he is now facing charges of up to £750 to park his van

Moreover, Mr Adams was later accused of receiving special treatment when he was hit with  a £300 parking fine when his Mercedes was towed away in Hackney in 2010. 

Although Mr Adams had an all-zones permit which allowed him to park anywhere in the borough, it was not displayed on the car's dashboard. 

His vehicle was slapped with a £60 ticket and was subsequently towed away from St Thomas's Square. 

While Mr Adams, who was head of parking services for Hackney Council paid the fine, he was not landed with the standard £260 towing fee, MailOnline previously reported. 

Instead he simply called the tow truck and ordered his employees to return his car to where he had left it. 

Hackney Council even admitted Mr Adams missed the 14-day deadline to pay the ticket — meaning he should have been fined £120. 

However, he only paid £60 because he had tried to pay earlier but 'there had been a problem with the system'. 

A council insider said at the time: 'Seamus was furious that the car was towed.

'He's got an all-areas permit and thinks he should never have been towed in the first place, even though he didn't have the permit on show.




Lewisham Council is expected to make thousands of pounds from fining motorists by rolling out new controlled parking zones across the borough. Pictured: One of the streets in the zone





Residents in the Brockley and Telegraph Hill areas (pictured) have been told if the plans go ahead they will have to pay for permits to park outside their own homes




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'The tow-truck boys had to do a quick about-turn when they realised what they had done.

'It's not a good idea to rile the boss by towing his Merc.'

However, Barrie Segal of website Appeal Now, which helps motorists challenge parking tickets, said he was 'disgusted' by the special treatment.

He added: 'The council claims its parking enforcement is fair and transparent, but clearly it is one rule for them and one for the others.'

MailOnline has contacted Mr Adams for comment. 

Meanwhile, locals in Lewisham have slammed plans to introduce parking permits costing up to £750 as part of a drive to create 'sustainable streets' in the borough. 

Residents in the Brockley and Telegraph Hill areas have been told if the plans go ahead they will have to pay to park outside their own homes.

While the prices vary, owners of the most-polluting diesel cars are now facing yearly charges of more than £300. Moreover for those with non-compliant vans, the costs can reach £750, locals have said.

There will also be parking charges for visitors to the area, which has raised separate concerns about the impact of restrictions on local businesses.

John Ohalloran, 54, a self-employed painter and decorator, told MailOnline: 'I have a diesel van and I'm now facing charges of £750 to park my van outside of my own home.

'This is a war on motorists. There has been the bus lanes and the LTNs [Low Traffic Neighbourhoods] and now this.'

'It is a cash grab. Everybody is feeling the pinch at the moment.'




There will also be charges for visitors to the area, which has raised separate concerns about the impact of parking restrictions on local businesses (stock photo)





Councils across London have introduced a number of 'anti-car' measures (file photo of LTN bollard) 




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Peter Ryan, 79, who lives on Drakefell Road, also told MailOnline: 'I really don't want to end up in a situation where we can't afford to live here anymore.

'There are a lot of objections to this issue. It doesn't look like there is any advantage to it.

'We have an aging petrol car. We do not want that to be penalised. I am very concerned about this.

'Drakefell Road is a diverse street with lots of different income levels. People cannot afford these parking fees.'

One woman who wished to remain anonymous questioned why permits were being proposed in the area as there is 'no shortage of parking spaces'.

She said: 'I do not have a car but I am still very opposed to it. I have food deliveries from Tesco and I have friends who want to park their cars.

'Drakefell Road is one of the busiest in Lewisham. Parked cars prevent cars from going too fast down the street.

There is no parking problem here. There is no problem with commuters parking their cars. We are not near enough to the station.'

Lewisham Council has said the measures are being proposed to 'create better streets for residents' and to 'reduce the number of car journeys' made in the borough.

It denied that the scheme is simply about 'making money' and instead see it as a 'long-term investment in Lewisham's public realm and the health of residents'.

When asked about the cost of the permits, the local authority said they were priced consistently with other areas in the borough and are based on vehicle emissions.

It added that residents would receive a '15 per cent discount in the first year'.

Locals now have until February 2 to share their thoughts on the consultation after the deadline was extended.




John-Paul Ennis (pictured) took on the role as Mayor of Lambeth last year 





John-Paul Ennis (right) , the Mayor of Lambeth, said being chauffeured around in a 'nice car' was one of the best perks of the job

It comes as the mayor of a London council accused of waging a war on motorists boasted about being driven around in his 'sick' taxpayer-funded car.

John-Paul Ennis, the Mayor of Lambeth, said being chauffeured around in a 'nice car' was one of the best perks of the job - despite some of his residents also paying up to £800-a-year for a parking permit.

In an interview with DJ AG, an online influencer, the 27-year-old Labour councillor explained that he gets to wear a chain, 'so that is pretty nice'.

'You get a nice car as well, you get driven around … it's sick,' he added.

Lambeth Council has infuriated locals by introducing a series of policies to limit car use since it became the first local authority to declare a climate emergency in 2019.

The Labour-run local authority has hiked the cost of parking permits and introduced a hated Low Traffic Neighbourhood scheme (LTNS).

It was last year hauled into court by its own residents over the 'flawed' plan that was forced through despite a majority opposition from locals.

Legal documents seen by the Telegraph listed various 'failings' by the council surrounding the LTN system in West Dulwich.

Meanwhile, The Times has reported that the local authority in Lambeth has raised the cost of residents' parking permits by 444 per cent over the past two years.

A motorist with a diesel vehicle could be paying as much as £800 per year to park their car in the borough, analysis by the newspaper revealed.

Even someone with a zero-emissions vehicle would now be slapped with a £128.26 fee for a permit.

This is compared to the £39.50-a-year that was charged in 2023, equating to a 224 per cent rise.

Over the same period, the price for a driver with a one-litre diesel car has increased from £82.69 to £350.14.

Shockingly if the owner chooses to pay in three-monthly instalments, the annual total increases to £450.22 which is a 444 per cent increase over two years.

A spokesperson for Lewisham Council said: 'Mr Adams has been employed by Lewisham Council since 2020 and is an experienced professional. These incidents, from over 15 years ago, were related to invalid tickets and an error in displaying a permit. At the time Mr Adams admitted to an error of judgment in terms of transparency in how they were handled.

'The Sustainable Streets Programme is part of the Council's wider plan to encourage more walking and cycling in the borough, discourage shorter car trips within and through Lewisham, and help households who are increasingly finding it difficult to park near their homes.

'As part of this process, we have been consulting with residents about parking issues they'd experienced, as well as the sorts of improvements they'd like to see in their local area. That feedback will shape the proposals we have been consulting on. In areas we have already consulted, resident views have changed the proposals.'


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