Airport Mum fined £170 after trying to avoid panic attack
AWOMAN who was fined after she stopped her car for 33 seconds at Bristol Airport has criticised the communication with the airport, describing her experience as like “hitting your head against a brick wall”.
On December 17 Sarah Cain, from Saltash in Cornwall, drove up to Bristol Airport with her husband and 16-yearold daughter for a holiday to Berlin.
On arrival, the car park which they were booked into, the long-stay, was closed and they couldn’t find the right car park to go into. This led to Sarah nearly having a panic attack and pulling over for 33 seconds at an exit to the short-stay car park, which she was later fined for.
Sarah thinks that the communication with the airport in the build-up to that day and afterwards has been poor and frustrating. Sarah said: “I feel it is very unfair since it was only for 33 seconds to calm myself down and to prevent a panic attack.
“I was not told of the car park change and when I arrived, the car park I should have been in was boarded off. It made everyone very anxious not knowing what to do and worrying whether we’d miss our flight.
“It was such a big day for us as my daughter was unwell, and this gave her something to look forward to. Everything was overwhelming and I needed to catch my breath.
“We did go to Berlin and had a good time, but when we got back we were issued with a fine. I tried explaining the situation but Bristol Airport was not interested and didn’t acknowledge the circumstances, it was like talking to robots.”
Sarah was initially fined £60 and tried appealing, however the fine was increased to £170 which she later paid. Sarah adds that the experience in trying to contact someone to talk to about the situation from the Airport was frustrating.
“I’ve complained to the airport, and
am still waiting on a reply. It comes to something if you can’t be given 33 seconds grace when you are doing what you believe is safest for everyone.
“I’ve cried every time I’ve spoken to them. I feel like the airport staff I spoke to are not human.”
A spokesperson from Bristol Airport said: “Last summer, we began work on our £60m public transport interchange and multi-storey car park. During the project, we’ve temporarily relocated some car parks. We attempted to contact any customers with affected advanced bookings several times to let them know their new arrangements. We’ve also installed new directional signage and added maps and information to our website. All of the internal roadways at the airport have experienced a longstanding issue with vehicles stopping in unsafe areas. This poses a high risk to the safety of our customers, colleagues and business partners and causes delay and congestion to other road users. Signs across the site further underline the message to all customers. Drivers breaking the rules may face charges which will be enforced through a combination of fixed cameras and mobile patrols, and when the evidence clearly shows customers stopping on double red lines or in clearly unsafe areas.”