A mother is starting a campaign after she was fined £100 for dropping off her friend at the petrol station next to East Midlands Airport.
Terri Akers, 51, received a parking charge notice after she was caught on CCTV filling her car up at The Fuel Station while her friend left the vehicle to catch a flight last month.
Signs have been put on display in and around the petrol station to warn motorists they could be fined if they are seen using the area to drop off or pick up airport passengers.
Mother-of-one Miss Akers, from Nottingham, wrote a two-page letter to Vehicle Control Services Limited appealing the £100 fine, as she claimed she did not see the signs and therefore they were ‘not effective’.
Since winning her appeal, Miss Akers now wants to help others who have fallen victim to what she described as an ‘outrageous scam’.
Terri Akers, 51, received a parking charge notice after she was caught on CCTV filling her car up at The Fuel Station while her friend left the vehicle to catch a flight last month
Signs have been put on display in and around the petrol station to warn motorists they could be fined if they are seen using the area to drop off or pick up airport passengers
Miss Akers, who works as a technical writer, also blasted the fine as ‘illegitimate’ and ‘poorly conceived as it has no basis in law or common sense’.
She said: ‘As I approached the airport, I needed to get petrol, but was fully intending to go to the £3 parking bay.
‘My friend then noticed the garage and suggested that I fill the car up there. It seemed like a sensible thing to do, then my friend realised he could quickly jump out while I was filling up.
‘My sole intention was not to defraud the authorities out of their £3 parking charge. What sane person would insist that their friend stay rooted to their seat waiting for the fuel to be paid when the airport is just a short walk away?’
Vehicle Control Services said Miss Akers had won her appeal, but did not state why.
A representative for Vehicle Control Services Limited said: ‘In light of Mrs Akers’ appeal and the evidence supplied we have accepted her appeal; we will formally confirm our decision to Mrs Akers.’
‘I want to start a campaign against this,’ Miss Akers said. ‘I think it is wrong and completely unjustifiable.
The petrol station is only a short distance from the airport terminal and the short term car park, where drivers have to pay £4 for up to 30 minutes of parking
‘I want to start a campaign against this,’ Miss Akers said. ‘I think it is wrong and completely unjustifiable.
‘I clearly just got lucky with my appeal. To be honest I don’t know why my appeal was successful – maybe because it was Christmas or the way I worded the letter.
‘But my point is, there are still plenty of people out there who are likely to fall into the trap in future and may accept it and pay the fine. There are many people who will drive to the East Midlands Airport who will be unaware of the situation.
‘It needs looking at closely. I would like to get in contact with all those who have received fines and see what can be done. This is just not on.
‘To be honest with you, I think they should get rid of the petrol station and replace it with a car park.’
East Midlands Airport said picking up or dropping off people at The Fuel Station is strongly prohibited and several signs have been up since June.
A spokesman said: ‘All drivers dropping off and collecting passengers at EMA should use the designated car parks and drop-off facilities.
‘One hour’s free parking can be had in Long Stay 2, which is ideal for drivers who have to wait longer for their passengers, ten minutes parking in rapid drop off costs £3, while 30 minutes in short stay 1 car park is £4.’
The Prax Group, which owns the petrol station, said new rules were introduced as the behaviour of some motorists was having a ‘negative impact on the business’.
It also stated that motorists either picking up or dropping off airport passengers at the petrol station was causing a ‘serious health and safety concern’.
It comes after a woman won a parking appeal months after getting fined while picking her daughter up at the petrol station on the grounds of East Midlands Airport.
Ruth Pickering, of Clifton, Nottinghamshire, was handed a £60 penalty notice after her 22-year-old daughter loaded her suitcase into the boot of the car while she filled up with petrol on June 30 this year.
The parking charge notice came through on July 16 and it took six weeks to win the appeal after Vehicle Control Services – the company that operates the enforcement vans – conceded the fine was wrong.
Ruth Pickering, 52, pictured, was fined £60 after CCTV footage showed her daughter putting a suitcase into the back of her car while she filled up with diesel on a forecourt at East Midlands Airport in June
Ms Pickering was sent a fine through the post showing her daughter loading a bag into the back of her car, although the 52-year-old motorist was successfully able to claim that the parking company was not entitled to enforce its restrictions on the filling station forecourt
Her plight was first reported in August last year – prompting numerous other people have come forward with similar stories.
‘It has been a saga,’ Ms Pickering said. ‘But they conceded it because they had nothing to argue any more. There needs to be some common sense in how people are fined.
‘I’m not allowing these people to fine people for anything. My intentions were innocent.
‘I had only gone to put the fuel in. My daughter only met me there because she had called her dad, Lewis, to ask where I was because she couldn’t find me at the pick-up point.
‘I was unaware of this.’