'Parking fines ruined my 80th birthday'

Barbara Williamson and her son received parking fines despite paying to park on the night of her 80th birthday

A mother says her 80th birthday was ruined after her family received two parking fines for the night of her party.

Patrick Williamson paid for both his mother's and brother's parking at a car park next to Hull's train station on Anlaby Road on 28 May.

However, the site consists of two car parks run by separate companies and Mr Williamson paid the wrong firm for the spaces his family used. He later received penalty charges for up to £100 each from Smart Parking Ltd.

Following a letter from MP Karl Turner asking for the charges to be waived or reduced, Smart Parking Ltd said both had been amended to the discounted rate of £60.

Ms Williamson said the fines should be cancelled and wants the signs to be made clearer.

She said: "You can't understand the signage. It's absolutely ridiculous.

"We did nothing wrong.

"[The fines] ruined the evening."

The site has 51 spaces managed by APCOA and 50 spaces run by Smart Parking Ltd. Both parks share the same entrance and exit but are distinguished by raised kerbs and differently coloured parking bays.

White parking bays at the car park on Anlaby Road are managed by Smart Parking Ltd, while red bays are managed by APCOA

Mr Williamson said they decided to use the car park as it was close to the party venue. He said there was a sign for APCOA at the entrance and his mother parked next to an APCOA sign, so he used its app to pay for the stay.

However, the family had used bays operated by Smart Parking Ltd and parking charge notices for £100 from the company were issued to his mother and brother on 12 June, stating they had not paid for parking.

"I was worried I got the registration wrong or hadn't paid, but I checked the receipt and everything was correct," Mr Williamson said.

"If you do pay, you don't expect to have to pay a fine as well."

Patrick Williamson says his mother parked next to a payment sign for APCOA and he paid the company to park but received a penalty charge from Smart Parking Ltd

Mr Williamson appealed both charges on behalf of his mother and brother.

Smart Parking Ltd said they had "considered [the] appeal in detail [and] decided to uphold the Parking Charge".

On 24 July, he appealed to the Independent Appeals Service (IAS) but the appeal was dismissed.

Mr Williamson said it was confusing because "any single car park should just have one car park operator".

"It's been upsetting," he added.

"It was my mum's 80th birthday party, but now all she's thinking about is this fine.

"How many other people will be caught out by this, it could be hundreds?"

The APCOA payment sign on arrival into the car park

APCOA, in a joint statement with TransPennine Express, said: "There are several signs located throughout the portion of land owned by TransPennine Express to direct our customers to the correct parking payment options."

IAS said it was aware of the family's concerns and had passed them to the International Parking Community compliance team for further investigation.

"We fully recognise the importance of motorists being able to clearly understand who manages a car park and the conditions of parking," it added.

"Issues relating to unclear or inadequate signage are taken seriously, and where such concerns arise, the IAS refers them to the IPC for compliance review."

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