Shopper stuck in 3-hour jam at car park is hit by £70 fine for overstaying
A SHOPPER who was stuck in a three- hour queue as she tried to leave a gridlocked car park was fined £70 for overstaying the time limit.
Dionne Russell, 46, was trapped in the retail park as she tried to make her way home after shopping for 40 minutes.
But the queue of traffic was so bad, it tipped her over the three-hour limit for parking there – which meant she got an automatic fine through the post.
Miss Russell, from Coventry, had gone to the shopping centre to get some last minute items before she went to visit her fiance in Germany.
But the finance manager fell foul of numberplate plate recognition cameras used to monitor how long drivers stay in the car park, which clocked her car stuck in traffic as she was leaving the Central six retail park in Coventry.
The congestion that day was particularly bad because of roadworks and a broken down car on a nearby ring road. The gridlock only eased after police took control of the traffic.
Miss Russell, who is recovering from cancer, was left stressed and shaken by the whole ordeal.
she said: ‘People were really irate and shouting and it was unpleasant. in the queue people were trying to force themselves in front of me.
‘A lady was banging on people’s windows and complaining to anyone letting anyone out and asking those pushing in to join the back of the queue.
‘i would have been stuck for much longer had the police not took control of the traffic on the main road to let people out.’
The £70 fine came through the post 11 days later, but Miss Russell claims that G24, the company that manages the car park, refused to listen to her when she complained.
she said: ‘when i opened the letter i was horrified and rang them right away.
‘As soon as i told them what it was about they put me through to an answer machine. i decided to go public because they’d fobbed me off.’
she added: ‘i will be contesting the fine and definitely will not be paying it. i will never go back to that retail park again.
‘There must be so many people in the same boat.’
Before the election the Government pledged to clamp down on cowboy parking firms.
Former communities secretary Eric Pickles set out plans to put an end to crippling parking charges, unfair car park terms and conditions and poor signs that catch out unsuspecting drivers.
The plans also included extending the ten-minute ‘grace period’ into private car parks.
The crackdown followed a campaign by the Mail highlighting the widespread exploitation of millions of innocent motorists by rogue parking firms.
Miss Russell believes the incident could easily have been avoided, saying: ‘The car park management should have notified the head office of the stationary traffic queue on the day and told them not to fine people.
‘i think companies like this are just interested in making money. The situation needs to be monitored.’
A spokesman for G24, the company which issued Miss Russell’s fine said: ‘ we will have to wait for the appeal to come through so i couldn’t pass comment yet.’
‘Just interested in making money’