Car parking misery for motorists targetted by vandals

Jun 9 2011 by Leona Greenan, Hamilton Advertiser

A HAMILTON woman was left distraught to find her car had been targeted by vandals in a town centre car park whilst she was at work.

The woman, who does not wish to be named, parked her Fiat Punto in the £1-a-day car park behind the Palace Grounds Retail Park in Hamilton for just over four hours on bank holiday Monday.

When the 20-year-old returned from her shift at Next at around 8.15pm she discovered yobs had thrown rocks at the car causing damage to the back passenger door.

There was also scuffs and dents on the roof, and chips taken out of two of the car windows.

The Strathclyde University student told the Advertiser this week: “I’ve used that car park a few times as I just work across the road and it’s handy. However, I had been made aware of a few incidents of vandalism there. Then, on returning to my car on bank holiday Monday, I discovered the damage to the driver’s side.

“Because I was the last person in the car park that night I just wanted to get out of there and it wasn’t until I got home I discovered the full extent of the damage.

“Right away, we contacted the police and South Lanarkshire Council, but there is no CCTV for that car park so the perpetrators will just get away with it. Meanwhile, I’ve had a £250 to £300 estimate to fix my car.”

The woman added: “I’d really just like to warn other motorists to be careful where they are parking their cars.

“A lot of people I know now steer clear of that car park and are having to pay ridiculous amounts of money to park in car parks that have CCTV installed.

“Ideally, the council should really install CCTV down there, not only to deter car vandals, but also for the safety of those using the car park, as it’s quite secluded.”

A spokesperson at South Lanarkshire Council this week confirmed they were aware of a number of incidents at the Palace Grounds car park.

They said: “We are very sorry to hear of the damage to our customer’s vehicle.

“We are now aware of a number of incidents in this car park, and have increased the number of patrols carried out by the car park wardens.

“There are no current plans to upgrade the town centre CCTV system.”