A pensioner has expressed her outrage after being hit with a fine for exceeding a car park‘s five-minute grace period by a mere 11 seconds.
Brenda Reed, who had not been back to the UK for 60 years, was looking forward to revisiting Margate’s Winter Gardens with her niece, recalling the time she saw The Beatles perform there in 1963. However, Brenda’s sentimental journey turned sour when she mistakenly parked in the wrong car park and subsequently received a penalty for leaving the site just seconds beyond the allowed time.
Mrs Reed, 78, is adamant that her “crazy” £60 ticket should be cancelled, claiming that the signage at the Lido Car Park is inadequate and that drivers should be granted a more generous grace period. She said: “We were just looking for the Winter Gardens and realised we needed to go further up the coastline, so had literally stopped the car, got out, realised our mistake, and drove further up.”
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The nostalgic trip was completely overshadowed by the shock of a £60 fine for briefly entering and exiting a parking lot, according to Mrs Reed. She said: “I felt so sad that the wonderful memory we had experienced, and a walk down memory lane for me, was messed up by the craziness of such a large fine for driving in and out of a car park.
“I did not see any clear sign in the car park that something like this could happen.” Mrs Reed insists that the car park needs much larger and clearer signs, and suggests a 10 or 15-minute grace period should be implemented before fines are issued.
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Mrs Reed, who jetted in from Nashville, USA, was gobsmacked when she was hit with a parking fine despite her appeal, which she thought was bang out of order. She and her niece, worried the fee might rocket to £100 during the appeal process, coughed up £60 only to have their plea knocked back.
The fine was dished out by Parking Eye, a firm that keeps an eye on car parks with number-plate recognition cameras. A spokesperson for the company insisted that the rules are clear as day, plastered on “prominent and highly visible signs”. Yet Mrs Reed isn’t alone in her frustration.
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Local Lucy Mwangi, 52, reckons there’s scant regard for visitors or those not clued up on local parking lore, saying: “Sometimes you feel like they’re doing that to catch you out.” She believes there should be more wiggle room, adding: “I think they should give you more leeway because people keep being caught out.”
Meanwhile, Martin Pleece, 74, feels drivers are unfairly burdened with finding the rules themselves, stating: “It’s like with many car parks, you’ve got to look, haven’t you?” He argues that it’s not on for motorists to have to play detective, suggesting: “Whatever car park you go in, you’ve got to stop if necessary, get out of your car, and read the signs. It’s not right at all.”
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On the flip side, a ParkingEye spokesperson defended their position saying: “The car park at Lido in Margate is monitored by ANPR camera systems and has 14 prominent and highly visible signs that give motorists clear guidance on how to use the car park responsibly. Motorists are advised that tariffs apply 24/7 and that they have the option to pay by the machine on-site or by phone.
“The motorist parked in the car park without paying and therefore received a parking charge. ParkingEye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their parking charge. The motorist did not provide any mitigating circumstances for failing to adhere to the terms and conditions of the car park and their appeal was rejected.”
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