Council pair are parking mad over ‘unfair’ fines

Mar 5 2008

A FURIOUS council worker this week hit out after she was issued with an £85 parking fine — only 25 minutes after leaving her vehicle at the retail car park in Hamilton.

Mother-of-two Lesley Davidson and colleague Barbara Ann Creer parked in Douglas Park Retail Park car park while attending a training meeting at the council’s headquarters in Hamilton’s Almada Street on February 7 at 2pm.

Clerical assistants Lesley and Ann decided to use the car park, owned by Brookhouse Group Ltd, as the council’s large car park in nearby Beckford Street — where council staff enjoy FREE parking —- was full.

The pair, who work in the Land and Fleet Services in Blantyre’s Forrest Street, returned to their vehicles less than two hours later and didn’t think anything was wrong as they were well within the car park’s maximum four-hour waiting time.

They said no parking tickets were placed on their windscreen and drove off without thinking anymore about it.

But they were shocked when they received a letter from Central Ticketing last Wednesday asking them to cough up £85 within 14 days or face court action.

Central Ticketing claim the pair’s vehicles were issued with a parking ticket and the company were writing to say that they hadn’t paid the fine.

The letter said that their cars had been issued with tickets on February 7 at 2.30pm.

Lesley lives with her husband Kevin and their two children Ryan (11), a first-year pupil at Calderside Academy, and Lyndsay (9), a pupil at Townhill Primary, in Hillhouse’s Bellhaven Road.

Lesley said: “I was issued with a ticket after I had only parked my car there for 25 minutes.

“I think it is shocking because the sign clearly states that you can stay in the car park for four hours.

“It is a lot of money to pay, especially when I haven’t broken the rules.

“I left the car park at 3.50pm so I used it for less than two hours.”

Kevin, a taxi driver with Hastie Cabs, High Blantyre, added: “The letter was quite threatening.

“How many more people have been issued with similar tickets?”

But Central Ticketing, who issued the tickets, insisted the fines were dished out because the vehicles had been parked in the car park since 10.28 that morning.

A spokesman for Central Ticketing said: “I have made investigations and the parking attendant’s notebook says that he first spotted the cars at 10.28am.”

The spokesman added: “Central Ticketing parking wardens issue parking charges to vehicles that are parked in breach of the regulations displayed on Central Ticketing’s contractual warning signs throughout the location.

“The warden patrols the site and notes down the times at which he first notices a vehicle.

“If the vehicle is in the same parking space after four hours the warden issues a parking ticket on the windscreen of the vehicle.

“Central Ticketing cannot be held responsible for instances of unauthorised removal or interference of a ticket from a vehicle.

“If a driver takes the time to contact us we will look into their claims carefully.

“The driver in question claimed that they did not receive the parking charge on their vehicle, but after receiving correspondence from our company, has still not contacted us in regard to their case.”

On Tuesday Lesley sent a letter to Central Ticketing appealing against the parking charge.

“I am shocked by Central Ticketing’s claims,” she added.

“We were both at work in Blantyre at 10.30am on that day and can get proof as we have a clock in and clock out system at our offices.”