Ludlow council has fined drivers who were confused by a sign which had grammatical errors. The sign post was missing a full stop.
The sign seemed to read: “No parking enforcement in operation.” Many drivers understood this to mean they are allowed to part at Castle Square.
However, the council intended to ward that no parking is allowed. Consequently, people who parked in the area have been slapped with fines.
Basically the message was lost as a result of lacking a full stop. It was quite confusing to the motorists.
The council was trying to prevent overcrowding in the area as one of the Covid-19 measures because the town has narrow streets.
“It is their error and it just shows how a simple full stop can completely change the meaning of a message,” said Angela Rennie a resident in the town.
This story shows us how important grammar is. It can be costly is punctuation is poorly used.
“This was an honest mistake and we apologize for any confusion caused,” said Steve Davenport, a cabinet member for highways and transport in Shropshire Council.
“NO PARKING. ENFORCEMENT IN OPERATION.” That is how it was supposed to read.
