Sorry you saw it as rude, it wasn't meant to be at all. Just my black sense of humour, weary resignation to this sort of thing which every public and private body seems to do to those it "serves" without any shame or conscience, just because it can. Ranting is all we practically can do most of the time.To deal with your question, the small print forms a contract which you accept by inserting money, and they fulfil by allowing parking. The Chiselling Machine Management part of Ealing Council would no doubt argue that you are under no obligation to accept the terms as you can park somewhere else. Except you probably can't, and besides you already have parked there. But contracts with consumers - with some exceptions, like intellectual property - do have to be fair to be enforceable, and this particular egregious term probably isn't and could be challenged. LBE would no doubt refer to their lawyers at vast expense to the taxpayer, and could counterclaim that if you succeed in your argument that the contract is invalid, then you were parked illegally and owe them £80 PCN.Modern life is designed to make us lose the will to live.
Tony Sleep ● 5158d