Woman Wins 30-hour Standoff with Parking Inspector

Finding out that your car is wearing that yellow boot on one of its tires is probably just as stressful as walking out to find it has been broken into. Well, that’s just what happened to Jessica Davey of Southern England, as her Renault Clio was not as she had left it. But instead of half-heartedly accepting her situation, she stood by the car for the next 30 hours to fend off any tow trucks.

"I couldn't afford to pay him, and I didn't see why I should, so I decided to stay with my car until he took it [the boot] off so he couldn't tow it away. If he did, the £250 to get it back is probably more than the car is worth," she said.

According to news.com.au, the reason she got the boot in the first place is that her parking permit was not displayed on her windshield. Instead it was sitting on top of her dashboard. Unfortunately, authorities are not sympathetic to this in the UK.

Parking inspector Anthony Brindley also stayed at the scene, hoping she would concede. Police did not want to intervene in the dispute, as it was a civil matter. But when Davey’s boyfriend, Simon Baker, tried to remove the clamp, he was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and taken to a local police station for questioning. He was later released without being charged.

Brindley said he could remove the boot if the owner paid a £110 fee, but she continued to stick around and sat in the Clio. Some 30 hours later, the parking inspector moved on. That's when Jessica Davey sprang into action and removed the boot herself.

"It's our job to immobilise vehicles which are not displaying a valid parking permit, and the release fee is set as such because of our expenses," Mr Brindley said.