by A couple on holiday in Dorset felt “mugged” after being fined £100 for spending six minutes and 12 seconds in a car park. Steve Cottrell, 63, an NHS nurse from Ruthin, North Wales, and his partner Joy, 56, drove into Old Town (West) Car Park in Weymouth on July 15 hoping to find a space to leave their car for a week. trip.
But when Steve walked over to the ticket machine, he said the contact payment system was broken and the prices were too steep, so he decided to drive back out and look elsewhere. When the couple returned home from their holiday, they received a £100 fine from Parkingeye, the company managing the car park, who claim the charge was issued because Steve exceeded the “five minute grace period” by one minute and 12 seconds.
The father-of-two, who said he felt “mugged”, wrote to several MPs and copied the Prime Minister after a one-off appeal was rejected, and even wrote a letter to the landowners car parks. . Parkingeye said there was no evidence that the contactless payment machine was broken and that Steve had “failed to provide any mitigating circumstances” for breaching the five minute rule.
Three months later, the company finally agreed to “drop the charge as a goodwill gesture” after being contacted by PA Real Life. “If there’s a five-minute grace period, then I went over for a minute, so I’m being charged £100 for a minute,” Steve told PA Real Life.
“We didn’t even stop there – well, we stopped the car but we didn’t park there. I don’t know if I’m cutting my nose to wear my face, but I don’t want to pay the money. It feels like I’ve been mugged.
“I think five minutes is unreasonable because by the time you get up, get out of the car, go over to the ticket machine and read the signs, your time is up and you will be fined.”
Steve and his partner Joy drove to the seaside town of Weymouth in Dorset for a week’s holiday on 15 July 2024. It was raining heavily when they arrived and they started looking for a space to park their Lexus IS 200 around 3pm.
“We were really grateful to get a place,” he said. Steve, who was driving, found Weymouth Old Town Car Park (West), operated by a company called Parkingeye Limited.
Unbeknownst to Steve, the section has a one and a half star rating on Google reviews, with people saying “avoid this car park at all costs…” and “another victim of an unnecessary fine”. After entering the open air parking lot, Steve said he unloaded the car and made his way over to the ticket machine.
“I got some bags off my back and walked to the machine but found it didn’t take without touching. It was broken and there was no change in me,” he explained. “Then I looked at the prices and it seemed expensive. It just didn’t seem like it would fit for a week.”
Dissatisfied with the prices, the couple decided to try their luck elsewhere and soon found a free space in a nearby street. We filled the bags back in the car and drove away,” he said.
In total, the couple spent six minutes and 12 seconds in the car park. When they returned from their holiday, Steve was surprised to find a letter from Parkingeye waiting for him.
They were said to have been fined £100, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days, for parking. Drivers are given a “five-minute cooling-off period” before being charged for parking, according to Parkingeye. “I was really surprised because we didn’t really have parking there,” Steve said.
“We just drove in, walked to the machine and found out we couldn’t really pay because we didn’t have any cash and it was expensive. The process apparently took six minutes and 12 seconds, which is what we were fined for.”
Believing it was a mistake, Steve contested the fine with Popla (Parking on Private Land Appeal), an independent free service for drivers to appeal against charge notices. But he was surprised by Steve’s “long and wordy” response denying his appeal.
“I couldn’t figure out how to contact Parkingeye and Popla is a one-step appeals process,” he said. “It’s a bit embarrassing but I emailed various MPs and copied Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner. I know it’s a bit silly, but I thought no one can help me with this.”
Steve was afraid that the fine would increase before he was referred to a debt collector and eventually end up in court. But he stood his ground and refused to pay up. “I’m reluctant to pay £100 to people behaving like this,” he said.
A Parkingeye spokesman said: “The car park at Old Town West in Weymouth is monitored by ANPR camera systems and has 17 visible and highly visible signs which give clear guidance to drivers on how to use the car park responsibly. Motorists are advised that tariffs are in effect 24/7 and that they have the option of paying with the machine on site or with the ecological payment app.
“The driver parked in the car park for six minutes without paying, this exceeded the five minute grace period and therefore a parking charge was issued. We would like to add that our systems show that the machines and the app have taken normal levels of transactions during the day.
“The BPA (British Parking Association) Park Parking has an audit appeal process in place, which drivers can use to appeal their parking charges. The motorist did not provide any mitigating circumstances for failing to comply with the terms and conditions of the car park and their appeal was dismissed.
“Popla, the independent appeals service also stood by the charge. Despite this, we will waive the charge as a goodwill gesture. We strongly encourage all drivers to pay the appropriate tariff if they exceed the five minute grace period, which was introduced as part of the joint British Parking Association and International Parking Community code of practice.”
