Parking charge at an airport

I parked at Birmingham Airport on the 21 May 2011 at the end of a parking row between a fence and the last marked parking bay, I did not feel I was damaging property or obstructing or inconveniencing any other customers. On the 22 June I received a NCP Notice to Keeper / Driver that a Parking Contravention Charge Notice had been attached to my vehicle for "not parked correctly within the markings of the bay space" and since I had not responded to this notice I was now liable for £100. My wife and I are certain that there was no notice attached to the car when we returned to it in the car park.

The advice on the net is to ignore this and it will go away. I have never had any motoring offences and am not one to flout regulations, but feel I am being ripped off. I do not feel I did anything wrong and would appreciate any recommendations or precedents you may be able to suggest.

Asked on 26 June 2011 by Battman

Answered by Honest John

If this is a privately owned carpark then it's not even an offence. It's a breach of contract and they have to sue you for the £100 penalty in the small claims track of a county court convenient to you. Your defence will be that the conditions of the contract were not clearly shown and that the penalty imposed is "unreasonably" out of all proportion to the breach of contract. If it's a council owned carpark then it is an alleged decriminlaised offence and all you can do is refer the matter to the appropriate parking ajudicator.

Tags: parking fines penalty charge notices legal issues

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