Anger at ’unfair’ parking fines

DRIVERS SAY MACHINES WERE NOT WORKING

DRIVERS angry at being handed fines at an NCP car park when some of the machines were out of order have been told to contact the company for likely recompense.

One motorist who was issued with a fine after using Hinckley’s Britannia Shopping Centre car park in May claimed staff were aware machines were out of service, but the penalty was still issued, causing anger and frustration.

When the story was shared on social media, many other drivers came forward with similar tales of woe regarding the car park, off Stockwell Head.

But NCP said there was never a time when the car park was without a working machine despite faults occurring – and that mobile payments can also be made.

Despite this, several people spoke out online about the parking situation, with many claiming they felt it was unfair.

“Has anyone else received a parking fine from the Britannia Centre car park for the evening of May 4? The machines were all out of order but an employee of NCP told me and others waiting to pay to give his name if we received a penalty notice,” they said.

The post received a series of other comments from people who had been fined by NCP at the car park too.

One said they had been issued with a penalty charge notice for arriving just three minutes after their ticket expired.

This was disputed by NCP, which said it operates a 10-minute grace period.

However, the motorist said: “I will never use it again having been penalised for running over by three minutes”.

The anger felt by many led to a series of people saying they no longer used the car park.

“No one uses the Britannia car park any more because of these problems,” said one person.

“I’d think just about everyone in Hinckley has received a ticket from Britannia Centre. Do not use that car park.”

A spokesman for NCP said: “While there were issues with two of the four pay machines at Britannia car park in May, which didn’t work for a total of seven days in the month, the other two machines on the site were fully functioning throughout, and we can see consistent payments throughout the month. Customers also had the ability to pay through our ParkPass app, as advertised on our tariff board in the car park.

“When a customer’s parking session expires, NCP offers a 10-minute grace period, which is in line with NCP’s membership with the British

Parking Association’s approved operator scheme code of practice.

“In May, there was actually a decrease in the number of penalty charge notices (PCNs) issued compared to other months and the lowest in 2022 at this car park, with 98.3 per cent of customers paying for their parking successfully – more than the average across the NCP estate.

“This doesn’t suggest there is a major issue, although we accept that some customers may have found paying harder than normal on the days two pay machines were not working correctly.

“On this basis, where customers parking at the Hinckley Britannia car park have received PCNs and appealed, we have already accepted their appeals.

“I would recommend that any customer who has contacted (the Mercury) about a PCN they have received because they had not been able to pay to email NCP on and we will review each PCN on a case by case basis.”

■ The email address is: appeals@ncp.co.uk