‘Pirate’ car park strikes again as woman hit with £100 penalty
GRANDMOTHER INTENDS TO FIGHT CASE ALL THE WAY AFTER FAILED APPEAL
A WOMAN from Grimsby is furious with a parking fine she received from being in a local car park for only twenty minutes.
Anne Arnold, 78, of Carr Lane, was waiting to pick someone up from the car park on Osborne Street, Grimsby, in July, but could not see any way to pay.
The following month, Anne received a bill from the company who run the site for £100 after they said she’d failed to pay for parking.
However, she claims there was nowhere to pay and no signs telling you how to, therefore, she shouldn’t have to pay the amount.
After a failed appeal, Anne maintains she will not pay the fine and intends to fight her case all the way.
She said: “In July, I was sitting in the derelict car park waiting to pick up my sick granddaughter.
“There was no machine to pay at and there were no signs to state where or how I should do so.
“There was a sign on one of the walls, but it was all scrubbed out with black paint over the writing so I didn’t know what it said.” “Pay here” signs have no physical means of payment underneath them and in the past, people say they have found it impossible to pay by other means, such as via a smartphone.
Anne didn’t pay during her stay and the following month she received a bill from Highview Parking asking for £100.
She ignored this letter and was then sent another, which is when she appealed the charge.
Anne said: “They replied to me saying that the appeal was rejected, but with no reasoning as to why.
“I was asked once again to pay the amount, but I’m still not going to because I don’t think it’s very fair.
“I am bit scared now though that they might send the debt collectors round or take me to court. “I’ve seen others complain about the car park too. “They say there are weeds everywhere, litter strewn all over the car park and the bays aren’t marked out properly at all. I feel awful about everything, I’ve worked all my life and was just waiting for a sick girl in a run-down car park and was slapped with a fine.
“I’ll be appealing the situation as much as I can and I won’t be paying the parking fine that’s for sure.”
It is the same car park highlighted by GrimsbyLive in summer 2020.
We visited the car park ourselves after it received more than 100 one-star reviews online because of the ongoing issues with people being unable to actually pay to park there and then receiving penalty notices.
The pay machine was broken and the other payment methods suggested also threw up issues.
The reviews talked about the company harassing the people they fine for multiple years, with one person even calling them “absolute pirates” for the repeated harassment they have faced.
Highview Parking who own the car park have been contacted for comment, but have failed to respond to previous articles.