Woman told to pay £24k in parking charges is declared bankrupt

A Tayside woman who was ordered to pay £24,000 in a landmark parking charge court ruling has been declared bankrupt.

Carly Mackie, 28, then of Fintry in Dundee, parked outside her parents’ City Quay home and ignored the almost-daily parking tickets left on her windscreen.

She wrongly believed she was entitled to park her Mini in front of her family’s garage near their West Victoria Dock Road home and that the tickets were unenforceable.

However, private firm Vehicle Control Services took her to court last year when she racked up an £18,500 bill for ignoring more than 200 penalties.

Now, it has emerged Ms Mackie has been declared bankrupt with debts totalling £37,546.84.

Documents lodged with the Accountant in Bankruptcy (AIB) show that she has now left Dundee and moved to Paisley. She works for airline Thomas Cook.

Sheriff George Way ordered Ms Mackie to pay the sum saying she had “entirely misdirected herself on both the law and the contractual chain in this case”.

He said the pursuers believed she had been engaged in a “personal crusade” to prove the charges were unenforceable.

The sheriff said in his judgment: “She knew perfectly well what the signs displayed and that she was parking in breach of the conditions.

“She stated (effectively a protest position) that parking charges were illegal and unenforceable in Scotland and that she could park where she liked as her father’s guest.

“The defender is not the tenant. The defender’s car was an additional burden on the parking facilities and she was the same as any other interloper.

“She was offered a permit by the factors (at a reasonable charge I think) but she refused on principle.”

Sheriff Way added: “Parking is not only an amenity but a valuable commodity in modern life.”

Ms Mackie could not be contacted for comment.