A man who refused to pay his parking fine until it was translated into Welsh says he is being “harassed” by a car park management firm.
Welsh-language campaigner, Toni Schiavone, has been involved in a three-year row with One Parking Solution after he was given the £70 fine in the seaside town of Llangrannog in September 2020.
Mr Schiavone has insisted he is happy to pay the fine, but only if it is translated into Welsh by the company, which is based in England.
He believes it would cost the company £60 to translate the fine.
At a hearing on Friday the judge, Gareth Humphreys, said it was unfortunate the case had gone on for so long and asked One Parking Solution whether it was worth pursuing.
If it does not back down, a county court hearing to decide the case will take place at a later date.
Mr Schiavone said: “This issue could have been resolved very easily and very quickly by providing a Welsh or bilingual notice, which would have cost around £60 to translate.”
He says the company is “threatening” him with a £10,000 legal bill after receiving a letter from it on Thursday.
The judge said the cost schedule he had received was for £10,156 and dated January 24, adding that this “certainly would not be allowed”, as Mr Schiavone had not acted unreasonably.
The company’s barrister, Richard Mullan, said it would not pursue costs.
Mr Schiavone and the judge spoke in Welsh, while the company’s barrister spoke in English during the hearing.
He has twice before thought he had won the case but the company appealed and Mr Humphreys agreed that mistakes had been made in how it had been previously dealt with.
Following the hearing, Cai Phillips, of Cymdeithas yr Iaith, the Welsh Language Society called on the parking company to scrap the case.
He told the Guardian: “We call on One Parking Solution to drop the case. This company has chosen to make an example of Toni rather than provide a very simple Welsh service.”
