Driver wins his airport garage £100 fine fight
COURT JUDGE DISMISSED THE PENALTY BUT VCS MAY APPEAL
A DRIVER has won his legal battle after getting a fine for stopping at the BP garage near East Midlands Airport.
After charges were introduced for motorists entering the airport to drop people off, the filling station became used as an unofficial drop off and pick up place instead.
It happened so often filling station bosses introduced a tough regime where people were fined for dropping off air passengers even if they were refuelling at the same time.
Among those fined was Peter Morgan, who stopped for about 30 seconds at the BP garage on September 8 last year.
Our sister paper the Derby Telegraph reported the 58-year-old credit control manager was hit with a £100 fine by Vehicle Control Services (VCS), who run the parking enforcement at the garage.
Now, a court judge has dismissed the fine – and Mr Morgan is urging anyone in a similar position to fight what he thinks are bogus penalties.
However, VCS says it does not agree with the judge’s decision and is considering its next move.
Mr Morgan appealed against the fine to parking arbiter the Independent Appeals Service but when that didn’t work he decided not to pay up and wait for VCS to take him to court.
Mr Morgan had been at the airport to drop off a friend for a flight.
When news came through the company was taking him to the county court for non-payment of the charge, he was given the option of having it heard at his local court.
When it was heard at Watford County Court on August 27, Deputy District Judge Trigger dismissed the case. He also awarded £25 in court costs to be paid by VCS. If Mr Morgan had lost, he would have been liable to pay those costs plus the original £100 fine.
Mr Morgan, of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, said his case was based on the fact that there are inadequate signs at the petrol station.
He pointed out that, at the time of his fine, there was not enough signage to show he was in contravention of parking regulations.
He said: “Frankly, the more people that do not pay, based on this judgement, the better.
“VCS rely on people thinking they must be legally entitled to issue the Penalty Charge Notice.
“Unless people have parked on double red lines, where it specifically says ‘no parking’ on the floor or possibly at the pumps to pick up, the judgement shows they have no right to issue PCNs, fine people or make their lives hell, as no contract exists between VCS and the driver.
“Their representative at the hearing was a solicitor’s agent, who had not been to East Midlands Airport and could not answer some of the basic questions raised by the judge.
“All in all, it felt like there was not much effort by Vehicles Control Services Limited to pursue this. I found this surprising, having continued my defence for almost a year.
“VCS can appeal this decision, but only if a point of law has been misinterpreted by the judge and he was very thorough and fastidious.”
It is understood that VCS has put up extra signs since the incident on September 8, 2019, which make parking restrictions clearer.
A representative for Vehicle Control Services Ltd said: “We do not agree with the judge’s decision, we consider that there was clear and sufficient signage at the fuel station and the vehicle stopped in one of the prohibited areas.
“By Mr Morgan’s own admission, he did stop in the fuel station forecourt to pick up passengers.
“We regard this as an exceptional case and we are currently considering our position.”
Earlier this year, a Nottingham woman, Terri Akers, also successfully appealed her ticket by claiming the signs warning motorists they could be fined were not easily visible.
However, many other motorists have not been so lucky.
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