EzeParking appeal rejected over Southampton council multi-storey case

The convictions of a cruise and airport parking company that used a council car park to store vehicles were "unarguably safe", a judge has ruled.

Staff at Alan Naylor's EzeParking Ltd used a Southampton City Council multi-storey, despite advertising a "private, secure car park".

CCTV captured them driving the cars out again, tailgating a car owned by Naylor through the barriers without paying the parking fees.

The company appealed the decision but its application was dismissed.

EzeParking Ltd was caught on two separate occasions leaving three customers' cars for a total of 11 days each.

Its website promises a "premier service for meet and greet parking" at Southampton cruise ship port.

Naylor, from Fareham, Hampshire, was sentenced and fined £500 at Southampton Crown Court in March, after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to breaches of consumer protection legislation.

The company was fined £4,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 in costs.

Earlier the Court of Appeal heard that Naylor and his company argued the Crown did not have jurisdiction in the case when it came to consumer protection legislation.

But Mr Justice Baker cited both the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 and the European Union (Withdrawal) Agreement 2020 when coming to his decision.

He told the court: "The Crown did not lack jurisdiction in this case and the convictions consequent upon the applicants' guilty pleas were unarguably safe.

"Accordingly these renewed applications are dismissed."