Carparks’ signs protest after fine appeal rejected

A motorist has been fined for displaying a ticket bought from a machine just a few yards from where he was parked — because the machine was in a different carpark.

The carparks in Bingham have entrances almost opposite each other off the same road. However, one carpark is classed as Needham Street and the other Union Street.

It is free to park in either for two hours if a ticket is displayed.

Mr Ian Sparrow, of Bottesford, parked in Needham Street carpark for 27 minutes, but bought a ticket from the machine in Union Street, thinking it was the same carpark.

After being fined, he challenged Rushcliffe Borough Council over signage.

He said the carparks were known by locals collectively as the Horse And Plough carpark and there was nothing to suggest they were separate, apart from signage on the ticket machines.

Mr Sparrow said: “I could see only one ticket machine [Union Street] and I could not see the Needham Street ticket machine from the direction I was parked.

“The name of each carpark is written only on the ticket machines. Unless you see both machines you would not know they were in different carparks.”

Mr Sparrow’s appeal to have his ticket overturned was turned down and he was fined £25.

'I could not believe they did not have just a little bit of sympathy'

He took his case to the Small Claims Court but it was dismissed because he did not follow the correct appeals procedure for a parking ticket.

Mr Sparrow said: “When I went back to take photographs of the carpark, there was a man who said everyone gets caught there.

“They [the parking warden] must have realised I had made a genuine mistake.

“I could not believe they did not have just a little bit of sympathy with my situation.”

Mr Sparrow said there should be clear signs at the entrance to each carpark to make it clear they were separate.

“The signage is woefully misleading,” he said.

The 19-space Needham Street carpark and 20-space Union Street carpark were both free long-stay carparks until September last year.

Since then, motorists have been able to park in the carparks free for two hours and for £20 for more than two hours. The charge is aimed at deterring commuters from parking all day.

The borough council’s executive manager for neighbourhoods, Mr Dave Banks, said: “We adopt standards set by the Department of Transport, the British Parking Association and our own legal team for signage across our car parks.

“We gauge the quality and quantity of signs by the level of compliance and since the introduction of the new short-stay measures a few months ago, more than 11,000 successful transactions have taken place.

“By comparison, very few motorists have challenged or commented on the carparks’ signage.”