A grandmother was hit with a £70 fine and threatened with court action despite following all the rules of an Aldi store’s controversial ‘ParkingEye’ system.
Irene Smith, 79, was a regular at the Aldi in Billingham, Teeside, where customers have to input their registration number into a machine in the shop when they enter.
She followed the rules and put her number in, checking it was correct, but received a £40 fine in the post a few days later, which increased to £70 after her first appeal was rejected and then led to her being issued a ‘final notice’.
Irene Smith, 79, was fined by ParkingEye despite correctly parking at an Aldi in Billingham, Teeside, and entering her registration details as requested. She is seen standing in front of her car holding her ‘final warning’ from the private enforcement company
ParkingEye scans the registration numbers of cars arriving and leaving car parks and fines any drivers who have not inserted their own number inside the store.
After receiving her first £40 fine, Mrs Smith wrote back to ParkingEye with a copy of her receipt to prove she’d been shopping in the store and even went to see the store manager to show him the evidence.
‘Inside they have three little computers that you put your reg in to, I’ve always done that, never done anything different,’ she said.
‘I’d been in that Wednesday and then I got a letter to say I had to pay £40 parking fine, rising to £70 if I didn’t pay it within a certain time.
‘I found my receipt, made a photocopy and wrote a letter to ParkingEye explaining. I got a letter back to say my appeal had been unsuccessful and then another letter to say I had to pay £70 and to make another appeal.’
She thought things were sorted when she went back to the store to see the manager who checked her receipt and told her the charge would be cancelled. Then another letter arrived with a final notice.
‘I’m an OAP, I’ve got an old second hand car, they must think I’m an easy target,’ said Mrs Smith.
‘Why should I pay it now when I haven’t done anything? It’s irritating and worrying.
‘The first letter told me I hadn’t been a customer, the second said I’d spent too long in the car park – both were not true.
‘It has been totally ridiculous and traumatic – I was getting ready to go to court.’
ParkingEye has repeatedly caused controversy, with many drivers complaining about being unfairly ticketed.
Earlier this month, a terminally ill man was twice fined while visiting Lincoln County Hospital – which operates the system – despite cancer patients being entitled to free parking.
Edward Sutton, 79, who was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2018, eventually had the fine overturned on appeal, Lincolnshire Live reported.
In 2017, top lawyer Nicholas Bowen won a high-profile court victory against ParkingEye after they fined him £85 for overstaying the two-hour time limit at a motorway service station.
A judge struck out the case and ordered the company to pay his costs of £1,550.
Aldi Billingham introduced ParkingEye discourage people parking at the store and using other parts of the town centre last year.
But it has caused widespread anger in the town, with a local Labour councillor claiming the CCTV cameras needed to enforce the system are a ‘flagrant breach of planning law’.
Mrs Smith followed the rules and inputted her number on a machine inside the Aldi store, (pictured) checking it was correct, but received a £40 fine in the post a few days later, which increased to £70 after her first appeal was rejected
ParkingEye – which is the UK’s largest parking control company – dropped their case against Mrs Smith after being contacted by a reporter.
The ten major private parking companies operating in Britain revoked at least 33 per cent of the 14.7million charges they issued in the last four years, a report by consumer group Which? given exclusively to This is Money last month showed.
The Government is currently drawing up a code of practice to regulate rogue companies following a boom in private parking sharks in recent years.
A ParkingEye spokesman said: ‘On this occasion the motorist incorrectly entered their registration number into the terminal in order to obtain free car parking at this site.
‘After further investigation into this case the charge was cancelled as the motorist was a genuine customer.
‘We encourage all motorists who feel they have mitigating circumstances to appeal using our BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process.’
The ‘final notice’ Mrs Smith received from ParkingEye, which threatened court action against her even though she had done nothing wrong