Northampton man fined £1,100 for parking outside his home

Lee Barrett moved to Far Cotton in April 2017 under a six-month tenancy agreement, which he later renewed.

But between October and February this year he was invoiced 11 times by the parking operator National Parking Management for leaving one of his cars on the road by his block of flats.

Lee, who lives with his partner and four-week-old-baby girl in West Cotton Close is the owner of a company car as well as his own.

He has one allocated space for his flat but has to park the other vehicle elsewhere.

But when asked why he keeps parking on the roadside after being fined, he said' “Where else is there to park?”

"Even the road directly opposite the traffic lights, that’s controlled by NPM as well, and then other roads have double yellow lines on them, so you can’t park there because obviously, they are authority controlled, so it’s a bit more serious.

"The only other place you can really park is the road down the side of Asda and that’s a 10-minute walk from home and it’s also parking outside other peoples houses leaving them without space."

The dad-of-one, who has appealed every fine so far, said even his family members and friends have been fined £400 for visiting as there is only one visitor's space per 25 flats.

"We quite like our apartment here and the area is okay, it’s convenient. But just based on all of this, and the fact that even family and friends don't want to visit anymore because they are scared they are going to get fined. It’s just an inconvenience now," he said.

"If, for example, there's not a visitors space out there, I think there's about one visitor's bay per 25 apartments, so it only takes one car to be in and then 24 other people can’t have any other visitors over.

"Of course, if I park my car elsewhere, we have a baby and we need to go somewhere, it’s a case of lugging a baby 10 minutes away before we can get in the car."

A spokesperson for National Parking Management said the area in question has suffered from over-parking for some time.

"Due to the way in which vehicles have been parking in this area, they have been blocking the roadways for the emergency services.

"The landowners have been contacted by the emergency services and requested to keep the area clear so that they have easy access if ever needed.

"Also, the vehicles in this area park half on the road and half on the pavement, again blocking access to pedestrians who may have a pushchair and/or using a wheelchair, in some cases they would have to go into the road to go around the parked cars.

"Obviously, anyone who has received a parking charge notice would not be happy, but the information/signage is available for individuals to view before they themselves decide to park their vehicle in any location.

"By parking their vehicle on the private land we maintain they agree to abide by all the terms and conditions specified on our signage. Breach of any term or condition will result in the driver being liable for a parking charge of £100."