'I was there for 68 seconds': Motorcyclist's anger after £100 parking charge near store
A motorcyclist is the latest to hit out at the ‘parking injustice’ at Ashby Fields in Daventry.
Adrian Baldwin stopped in the layby area opposite Tesco Express to use the cashpoint, but days later was slapped with a £100 fine.
He says as the rest of the car park is free to use, he did not think it would be a problem.
He said: “I received a parking fine for stopping in an area of a free car park. Getting off my bike, getting money out of the cashpoint, getting back on and riding away took one minute and eight seconds.
“It was hardly clear from the road surface that parking in that space was not allowed. A sign was up but I simply didn’t see it.
“In my defence, it’s a free car park, I wasn’t even looking for a sign. I would argue no one riding up on a motorbike in a full-face crash helmet would have any chance of reading the sign without getting off of said bike, and thereby incurring a fine anyway.”
The car park is run by private operator One Parking Solution, which is also responsible for the parking bay. The centre as a whole does not have an overall owner, as each unit is managed individually.
A sign next to the bay says it is ‘private parking’ which is ‘strictly reserved’ for commercial vehicles legitimately loading or unloading and liveried taxis or private vehicles dropping off or picking up passengers.
Adrian is the latest in a string of road users to be hit with a fine for stopping briefly.
Drivers have previously taken to Facebook to complain about receiving tickets, some saying they were there for a matter of minutes and still incurred a fine.
Adrian added: “I understood that grace periods normally apply to car parks, but apparently that is not necessarily the case when private land is involved. In this instance ‘zero tolerance’ was the reality.
“I saw the red lines and avoided stopping on those. All this stated, I did break the rules, and I paid the penalty even though I think it is completely out of proportion to the offence.
“We shouldn’t allow our local community to keep getting stung like this. So many people have a similar story to tell. It’s unreasonable.”
One Parking Solution did not respond to our request for comment.