UEA student charged £100 for stopping for 15 seconds at a zebra crossing

Callum Stocker, a UEA student, has been fined £100 for stopping for 15 seconds at a zebra crossing to drop off his girlfriend, even though the crossing was in use at the time.

Mr Stocker is a 21-year-old environmental sciences student, and was on his way to drop his girlfriend off at an exam when he arrived at a zebra crossing on James Watson Road near the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. There was a group of pedestrians waiting, so he advised his girlfriend to get out of the car, as they were close to their destination and had to stop anyway.

Unfortunately, a few days later his mother received a letter from National Parking Enforcement Ltd at their home in Northampton instructing Mr Stocker to pay a £100 fine for parking in a no-stopping zone.

Mr Stocker has said: "It is just crazy: What was I supposed to do – run the people over? It must happen to so many people if everybody who stops at the zebra crossing are charged. There really are no words."

National Parking Enforcement Ltd, however, have claimed that Mr Stocker stopped eight seconds before the pedestrians stepped out.

A spokesman said: "The driver stopped directly in front of a pedestrian crossing at 08:30.26 seconds, the crossing was empty when he chose to do this. At 08:30.34 seconds pedestrians entered the crossing at the same time his passenger exited the vehicle."

They also said the driver passed an "initial warning sign and two no stopping signs before deciding to stop, on double yellow lines" while obstructing a pedestrian crossing.

Mr Stocker said that he had seen the pedestrians approach the crossing so slowed in case they stepped out into the road.

He said: "I know I'm young but I have been driving long enough to know that you have to stop at a zebra crossing and be aware when you see people close to the road in case they step out."