How you can beat car parking charges
Lawyer’s advice over controversial shopping tickets
a top traffic lawyer has set the record straight on a controversial town centre park at the centre of long- running rows over “parking fines”.
Parking spaces outside the Matalan and Sports Direct shops in Ayr have caused controversy, with the Ayrshire Post highlighting people who have been given notices unfairly and found it difficult to appeal.
And the Ayrshire Post reported last month that of the 112,827 tickets issued by G24 Ltd in 2016, none of them resulted in any court proceedings
Now Gordon Ghee of Nellany and Company LLP’s specialist Ayrshire road traffic laywer department, told the Post how the “parking charge notices” issued by the firm who operate the car park work.
Gordon said: “The parking charge notices issued by private firms who run private parking facilities are invoices for payment.
“While there is nothing wrong with the issuing of the notices or invoices, they don’t have the same legal status as either a fixed penalty notice imposed by the local authority, which is directly enforceable, or a fixed penalty notice imposed by police in respect of a contravention of road traffic rules and regulations.”
Gordon says the £ 100 charge most people are hit with is unlikely to ever go to court.
And he insists people shouldn’t be afraid of challenging them over the notices.
He said: “There are, in my opinion, a number of things to consider - firstly if you are going to appeal the charge, make sure you say fully what your reasons are and keep a copy of your letter.
“Many recipients of these notices do have very persuasive reasons as to why the charge should be deleted. Even if the company refuse your appeal, it would be open to any court to consider the reasonableness test, fairness and natural justice, if the company refused your appeal and decided to raise proceedings.
“Secondly, if you ignore it, you will receive reminders. They are however, very likely to stop eventually.
“The amount charged will increase but do not let that frighten you. I am not convinced at all that increasing the charges purely because of late payment is a valid approach to take to someone who exercises their right to object to payment.
“Thirdly, it is in my view extremely unlikely that any court proceedings will follow. The courts would be overrun by party litigants who defended the charges and the firms are surely unlikely to want the expense of such lengthy proceedings.
“It should also be remembered that if a decision went against the firm, it may affect the willingness of others to pay.”
Last month, we reported that two sisters told how their lives have been made a hell by car park bosses hounding them over a supposed fine.
Johanne Mitchell, 63, and Georgina Kelly, 74, say they shouldn’t have been charged at all – after spending just 35 minutes in Ayr’s Matalan store, and getting a parking token from staff.
And Gordon adds that while a few cases – from different car parking companies – have made it to court in recent years.
Those are “distinct” cases where the disputed money runs into the thousands making it worth the parking company’s time to pursue legal proceedings.
We contacted G24 Ltd but received no response as we reached our deadline.