Louth car park slammed once again after latest ticket fiasco

A tourist from Grantham who enjoyed a spa day in Louth, and a former East Lindsey District Council parking enforcement officer, have both expressed anger after '˜wrongly' receiving parking tickets on the same day.
The queue at the Euro Car Park in Eastgate, Louth, on July 18.The queue at the Euro Car Park in Eastgate, Louth, on July 18.
The queue at the Euro Car Park in Eastgate, Louth, on July 18.

Vicki Burrows, who lives in Grantham, and Mick Collins, from Huttoft, both received £100 parking charge notices (PCNs) after allegedly parking at the car park in Eastgate - run by Euro Car Parks - on July 18.

However, both Vicki and Mick claim that the parking charges were issued in error - particularly as the parking machines were ‘out of order’ on the day in question.

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Vicki told the Leader that she had visited the area to enjoy a spa day at Kenwick Park, plus a trip into Louth itself.

The ticket machine was clearly marked 'Not In Use' on July 18.The ticket machine was clearly marked 'Not In Use' on July 18.
The ticket machine was clearly marked 'Not In Use' on July 18.

She said: “The ticket machines at the car park weren’t working properly, and a big queue had gathered at the machine as people tried to get it to work. There must have been 10 or 12 other people there.”

“The other machine allowed you to pay by card, and after being in the queue for almost 15 minutes I was finally able to get a ticket, which I displayed on my dashboard.

“I got back to my car within the time limit and went home, but later received a parking charge notice for £100.”

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As the car park in question relies on automatic number plate recognition software, Vicki is concerned that perhaps she was charged due to the delay between entering the car park and purchasing the ticket - despite this not being her fault, due to the large queue.

The ticket machine was clearly marked 'Not In Use' on July 18.The ticket machine was clearly marked 'Not In Use' on July 18.
The ticket machine was clearly marked 'Not In Use' on July 18.

She has appealed to Euro Car Parks, but has had no reply.

On the same day, Mick - a District Council car park enforcement officer for over 12 years - entered the car park and discovered that the parking machines were out of order.

He promptly gave up and got back into his car, left the car park, and went to park elsewhere in the town.

However, as the automatic cameras captured his vehicle entering and exiting the car park, he also received a parking charge notice in the post shortly afterwards.

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He submitted an appeal to Euro Car Parks on July 28 and received a reply on August 1, telling him that his appeal had been ‘carefully considered’ 
- but had still been rejected.

The letter cited the fact that ‘no pay and display ticket was purchased’ at the time - despite the fact that the machines were out of order, and the fact that Mick left and parked elsewhere.

Mick said: “The company will have known that their machines were out of order.

“When I was an enforcement officer, if one of our machines was broken, it would be flagged up on our system.

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“Because I knew what I was doing, I wouldn’t do anything to risk getting a car parking fine.

“I took photographs of the ‘out of use’ sign and the queues to use as evidence - but they still rejected my appeal! They clearly didn’t consider it properly.

“I think the company just hopes that most people who receive these parking charge notices will just pay it anyway.”

The Eastgate car park was the subject of controversy back in May, after people received parking charge notices despite having bought valid tickets.

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At the time, Euro Car Parks did not respond to multiple requests for a comment from the Leader, via phone and email.

Interestingly, they have not responded to the Leader’s requests this time either.

• Have you wrongly received a ticket after visiting this car park, and had your appeal rejected or ignored? Email [email protected].