Driver was fined after stopping to get receipt atfer it blew off
A taxi driver fined after stopping to pick up a car park receipt after it blew out of her hand has won an appeal – more than a year after the incident.
Kim Blagden was fined by East Midlands Airport’s parking team, Vehicle Control Services Ltd, in July last year as she attempted to leave after dropping off passengers to the airport.
As she waited at the payment machine, the wind blew Kim’s car park receipt to the ground. She said that as she was unable to open the door to reach it, she drove her car out of the way and briefly into a no stopping zone, for which she was then fined.
“I could not open the door to pick up the receipt because there was not enough space, so I drove through the barrier,” she said.
“I stopped the other side of the barrier, which went down, and I went to pick up my receipt off the floor.”
However, the Castle Donington airport’s estate roads are red-routed, with no stopping signs in place to discourage drivers from waiting in undesignated parking areas when dropping off and collecting passengers – leading to the fine.
Kim had disputed the need to fine her all along. “It is not like I stopped to let passengers out, in order to avoid paying the drop-off charge – that had already been paid,” she said. “I stopped to get my receipt to claim the parking charge back from the company.
“They say I stopped where I should not have done, but I stopped because I needed to go and pick something up that I dropped.”
Initially issued with a £60 fine, it was increased to £100 when she refused to pay. Her appeal against the £100 charge has been going on for over a year, with her then employer, DG Cars, also trying to cancel the fine which it labelled as unfair.
That all came to nothing until East Midlands Airport confirmed the fine had now been cancelled – 16 months after it was issued.
A Vehicle Control Services Ltd spokesman said: “Our mobile CCTV enforcement vehicle observed Ms Blagden’s vehicle parked in the exit lane to one of the airport parking areas, causing a potential obstruction.
“The captured footage clearly showed the vehicle parked and was in no obvious signs of distress or emergency as its hazard lights were not active.
“As a result, it was considered the vehicle was stopped in an unsafe manner and was issued a parking charge notice for stopping a vehicle where stopping is prohibited.
“However, following a further review of additional evidence provided by her to the Independent Appeals Service, we decided to cancel the charge on the grounds Ms Blagden did pay for her parking and had reasonable cause to stop. We advise in such circumstances it would be appropriate to have hazard lights on to alert other vehicles.”
WOMAN WINS APPEAL OVER £100 PENALTY AT AIRPORT