Warden payout

The whistle-blowing traffic warden, who was sacked after revealing a 10-a-day ticket quota implemented by the company he was working for, has been awarded £20,000 in compensation.

Hakim Berkani of Wandsworth, south-west London, had already won an unfair dismissal case against enforcement company NSL, which employed him in the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, at an employment tribunal in January.

Berkani, 45, claimed he was harassed and eventually sacked for gross misconduct because he preferred to warn motorists when they were parked illegally, rather than issue a ticket. He told Auto Express at the time that he was astonished NSL continued to deny any such targets exist and said he still wanted his job back. However, that now looks increasingly unlikely.

Berkani told the tribunal he believes he’s been “blacklisted”, having applied without success for more than 200 jobs since being sacked last February, after three years working as a traffic warden.

NSL has until 8 March to appeal against last week’s ruling.