Actress Donna Air fraudulently applied for a parking permit to avoid paying more than £5,000 in on-street parking charges, a court has heard. The 32-year-old former Byker Grove star already had a parking permit in Westminster when she applied for another permit for her cream Mini Cooper in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, a trial at Isleworth Crown Court was told. Drivers are not able to have two central London permits for the same car and the court was told Air had signed a declaration as part of her application which said she did not already have a permit for the vehicle. Air is charged with fraudulently obtaining a parking permit by false representation on January 21 last year. Prosecutor Adrian Chaplin said there were enormous pressures on parking spaces in the boroughs of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea. He said: "Those who drive in from out of town have to contend with the parking charges levied upon them. The charges are considerable." Mr Chaplin said Air paid Kensington and Chelsea £110 for a 12-month permit. Without it she could have faced annual on-street parking fees of up to £5,760 to park close to the flat she owned in the area. He told the court it was not under dispute that the form she signed had a declaration asking if she held a permit elsewhere, but he told the jury they would have to decide whether her conduct was dishonest. The court was told Air's vehicle received a penalty notice on April 4 last year after it was photographed by a parking attendant in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea with a Westminster parking permit on display. Air also received a parking fine on June 7 when both permits were on display in her vehicle and another parking ticket on June 9, the court was told.
