A Penrith man wants to warn other motorists, after a short visit to a 24-hour cash point to withdraw £10 ended up costing him 10 times that amount in a parking fine.
Brian Atkinson told the Herald that on May 31 at 6.45am, he called in at Home Bargains, Ullswater Road, Penrith, to use their 24-hour cashpoint.
He withdrew £10 and left at 6.50am — a five-minute visit. On June 4, he was horrified to receive in the post a Parking Charge Notice for £100.
Mr Atkinson said: “It informed me that there are parking notices around the car park stipulating the parking conditions.
“I returned to Home Bargains Penrith to check the signage. There is a sign at the entrance, which you do not notice as you are driving.
“It invites you to read the signage displayed around the car park. I did this and it took at least five minutes because of the lines of small print at the bottom of the sign.
“So, the gate was open and Home Bargains Penrith offer a 24-hour ATM service, at which I conducted business which took five minutes.
“Had I read the signage it would also take five minutes. A fine would be issued for either event.”
Mr Atkinson contacted Parkingeye, the private company responsible for managing the car park and issuing fines, and made an appeal against the fine declaring it to be unfair. However, the appeal was rejected.
He has, he says, also tried to contact Home Bargains’ head office using their email complaints service, but this directed him to contact the company which issued the fine.
Mr Atkinson has also contacted his MP regarding what he describes as the “underhand way” in which money is being taken from customers who are using the 24-hour cash machine, and is waiting for a reply.
He says he wants to raise awareness of the situation in order to “prevent another victim of this parking scam”.
The Herald contacted Parkingeye, which according to its website “provides a wide range of enforcement and parking services to ease parking pain for businesses across almost every sector”. The company’s clients include major supermarkets and hotel chains.
A spokesman for Parkingeye said: “The car park at Home Bargains Penrith is monitored by ANPR camera systems and has 13 prominent and highly-visible signs that give motorists clear guidance on how to use the car park responsibly.
“The rules are in place to prevent any anti-social behaviour and parking abuse, as signage throughout clearly states this.
“The motorist parked in the car park on May 31 outside of the permitted hours and therefore received a parking charge.
“Parkingeye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their parking charge.
“If anyone has mitigating circumstances, we would encourage them to highlight this by appealing to Parkingeye. All motorists are also entitled to a further appeal via POPLA, the independent body which reviews all cases.”
