Latest news with #parkingfine
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Pensioner furious after being slapped with 'ridiculous' £170 parking fine... but claims there is a big catch
A pensioner is furious after being hit with a 'ridiculous' £170 fine for overstaying in a car park - even though he wasn't parking. Garth Burden, 80, pulled into an Esso Garage in Rickmansworth to get his car washed and waited patiently in a queue. Little did he know that there was a 15-minute limit in place, enforced by Euro Car Parks, whether parked in a space, washing your car or changing your oil. Mr Burden told MailOnline: 'I was in a queue, and there was a car in front of me and eventually once they drove off, I was able to use the car wash. 'The actual car wash itself took about 10-15 minutes, and I just accepted that would be fine.' However, Mr Burden was later slapped with Parking Charge Notice (PCN) from Euro Car Parks on their doorstep to the tune of £170. He said: 'They said I had stayed for more than 15 minutes but I replied saying "That's ridiculous, I'm going to obviously fight this.' Having been hit with the fine in the run-up to Christmas, while staying with their son in between moving homes, his wife, who owned the car 'was really, really upset' about the fine. But when he asked about the appeal process, Euro Car Parks informed him he had missed the opportunity as he was late collecting the letter containing the PCN from his former home. 'It's so stupid to pay and get done for 15 minutes in a car wash. It's just common sense says you've got to have a bit more time than 15 minutes,' he added. Despite attempting to argue for an opportunity to appeal, Mr Burden was hit with another blow - a letter from Debt Recovery Plus on behalf of Euro Car Parks demanding the sum for the alleged contravention. 'I kept saying to everyone, "I wasn't parking my car in the garage. I was going through a car wash". 'I wrote to them and said, as far as I'm concerned I'm not guilty of an offence cause I wasn't parking my car. I was in a car wash. 'If you want to pursue this with the court, tell me where you're will seek legal action, and I will come along and defend myself. 'They claim I have broken a rule about car parking, so anyone that's spending more than 15 minutes in the queue behind me for the car wash no doubt got a ticket. 'So I just thought this is just crazy.' Over the last year-and-a-half, Mr Burden has received around 20 letters from various debt recovery companies about the issue, including Debt Recovery Plus, GCTT Enforcement Agents, QDR Solicitors, ZZPS and DCBL. 'It is an ordeal because of the time involved and whenever I tell anyone I've had another letter about my car wash debacle.' Referencing Euro Car Parks, he added: 'They are trying to screw as much money out of poor motorists as possible. 'It's absolutely ludicrous,' he said: 'And they come up with all sorts of amazing warnings. You have only got to read the reviews on the notices. 'But if you've got an old lady at home or somebody who doesn't know the process of courts, the threat of enforcement agents coming to your home without any sort of court action can be frightening. 'I find it absolutely galling. It's absolutely daft,' as he dubbed the service: 'The most expensive car wash in town.' Mr Burden also claimed there was no signage on the kiosk where he paid for the car wash to suggest there was a 15-minute limit to queue and was your car, adding the only notice about a limit was high-up on a sign that's 'hardly read[able]'. However the 80-year-old is ready and determined to see the situation all the way up to small claims court, adding: 'I would love them to do it. 'I can guarantee the day before or the couple of days before, they will say "We're not going do anything further" or they will say "this is your last chance" or something like that. 'Car parking is a very, very, lucrative business for some of these companies and they really are, you know, raking in the money.' And Mr Burden isn't the only person to fall victim at the garage forecourt with single mother, Natalie Carby, hit with a £100 fine just an hour after she picked up her new car up from the garage. The mother-of-two queued for around 25 minutes for her turn before she headed home on the 15 February, 2023. She didn't give much thought about the experience until a Euro Car Parks fine landed on her doormat 12 days later. Signs at the garage do indicate that the maximum stay for the car park is 15 minutes, but the 41-year-old believes this should not apply to the car wash. With the fine, the £9 wash could now set her back £100. Ms Carby said: 'I'm just absolutely appalled. 'I think it's absolutely outrageous that they can do this. Fair enough there may be signs around for a car park, but the car wash queue is not a car park.' Ms Carby had only bought her new car an hour before she went to get it washed at at the same Esso Garage in Rickmansworth. She had planned to go to the BP garage along the road but found it was closed, forcing herself and other drivers to go to Esso. She said: 'The only reason I went there was because the car wash at the BP garage down the road was closed, which is why there were so many cars queuing in the Esso car wash that day.' She added: 'It has taken a lot of time and effort and help from family members to get this car and then within an hour I'm whacked with a £100 fine. 'I had my previous car for over ten years and I never got a parking fine. An hour of this car and I'm getting a fine for having a car wash - I'm just appalled.' MailOnline has approached Euro Car Parks, DBCL, Debt Recovery Plus, GCTT Enforcement Agents, QDR Solicitors, and ZZPS for comment.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Zoe Bread forces Manchester City Council to refund parking fines
A woman has won a long-running battle over a parking fine by donning a mask like a slice of bread and making a raft of social media videos about campaign started when she received a penalty for parking on Collier Street in Manchester after confusing signs meant she bought a ticket from the wrong machine. After a lengthy row which saw her assume the alter-ego Zoe Bread, pen a song about her quest and make 29 Instagram and TikTok videos seen by millions of people, Manchester City Council has now backed leader Bev Craig said said the signs "could be clearer" and that some other fines issued on the street over the past year would be quashed. T-shirt designer and filmmaker Zoe said her problems began because the 'Pay At Machine' sign on the street pointed to both a council-run car park and private unsuccessfully arguing her case, she submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the council about how many fines had been issued on the the council knocked it back. She then scoured council documents and found there had been a significant rise in the number of penalties issued in the first year the SIP car park was a month-long campaign that included challenging Greater Manchester metro mayor Andy Burnham on a BBC Radio Manchester phone-in, she finally won her battle."The only part of it that I think is bad is the amount of effort it took to get heard, which is obviously not possible for a proper person to do," she told the BBC. 'Annoying' Zoe added that "their system doesn't work, but my system does," putting down her success to being "persistent and annoying".She said she would now help other people who had been caught out in the same way. Opposition Liberal Democrat councillor Alan Good applauded Zoe's he said it "shouldn't have taken the social media pressure that was largely due to Zoe's following".He said the council should cancel fines going back further than the last 12 months, considering the big rise in penalties in 2018, when the privately-run car park was first opened. Council leader Craig - who directly contacted the campaign - said she thanked Zoe for drawing attention to the said the signs on the street complied with all the rules, but that there would be added: "We're going to address this as soon as possible with new signs, by relocating the metre and by asking the owners of the nearby private car park to take down their signs which have contributed to confusion."As a goodwill gesture, we will also quash any pending or unpaid tickets relating to Collier Street - including Zoe's - and review our records of fines for the last 12 months in that location. "We will refund anyone who said at the time that they believed they had paid for their parking." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
The Sun
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Sun
Driver who crashed into bollard hit with £100 parking fine while waiting for help
A DRIVER who wrapped his car around a bollard was hit with a £100 parking fine while waiting for help. Jeremy Rabinovitch was issued with the penalty notice for incorrect parking after leaving his Hyundai i10 hatchback wedged on the concrete pillar. 4 4 4 He had been sitting in the car for six hours waiting for a tow truck when the motor was caught on camera outside a bay. Jeremy, 48, said: 'Thankfully, I was unhurt, but there is no way they knew that. 'The thing that shocked me was the inhumanity of it. 'Did it ever occur to them to ask if I was OK?' The NHS apprentice manager hit the post when he was caught in the glare of another vehicle in a commuter car park near Edgware Tube Station, North London, at 6am on April 9. Despite doing only 5mph, dad-of-two Jeremy says the post proved too firmly embedded to free his car and he had to wait for help. It meant Jeremy missed an important meeting with his team, which sources apprentices for St Guy's and St George's hospital. And he was angered when he received the penalty notice about a week later. Jeremy, from Borehamwood, Herts, appealed the charge and received a brusque, three- sentence letter informing him he no longer needed to pay. He said: 'I was livid when I received that letter. My car gets ticketed every morning but I can't park anywhere else - city makes thousands in fees & I can't get a permit "It was just robotic, no apology, nothing. What has the world come to?' Jeremy remains annoyed neither the parking enforcement company nor passers-by showed him any understanding. He said: 'I could have been concussed, anything. 'Two people in six hours stopped to check if I was OK, out of the hundreds that slowed to ogle the scene. A couple even laughed.' UK Parking Control, which issued the fine, was asked to comment. 4
Times
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Times
Can I be fined for driving the wrong way in a private car park?
Q In my half-term haste I drove through a no entry sign in a large service station and ended up getting stuck facing a lot of one-way traffic. There were cameras everywhere and lots of signs about automated number plate recognition and parking fines — I have been quite worried about it since. I accept my error, although the no entry signs were not that clear. If I do get a fine, do I have to pay it if it's a private company?Name and address supplied Sometimes our readers' questions seem pretty straightforward at first glance. But when you start to dig down into the details, things can become a bit murky. Complaints about private parking charges can provoke some strong responses. To answer
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Aussies divided over driver's plea to parking inspectors in Sydney suburb
Aussies are divided after a hospitality worker said she shouldn't receive a parking ticket because she works up to 60 hours a week. A photo of a handwritten note the woman had left on her dashboard for rangers was shared to a community Facebook page on Saturday. 'Hi, I work in Manly and get fined daily. I work in hospo doing 12hr days 5x a week,' the note read. 'I'm not staying long to intentionally take up spaces. 'Please help a girl out.' But the local who snapped the photo wasn't convinced. 'Is this a good enough reason to get out of a parking fine?' he asked the group. 'Just because she's a GAL.' Aussies were quick to share their thoughts on the woman's justification. 'Notes like that would cause me to write two fines,' one said. 'Sorry but as a former ranger this is an invite...' a second wrote. A third shared: 'Got nothing to do with being a gal'. 'Should catch the bus,' a fourth commented. But others were more sympathetic. 'It's a difficult one. First all the essential workers are advised to move out of the northern beaches to where they can afford to buy/rent, live to their means and then they get fined when commuting to work,' one said.
