Clacton pensioners fined £100 for entering car park 2 minutes early

Sue, 69, and her husband, who is nearly 80 and in poor health, were handed a £100 penalty for entering The Range car park in Valleybridge Road at 9.58am, two minutes before parking was permitted on a Sunday.

A week later, they received a fine from Parkingeye in the post stating they had breached the parking conditions of the car park.

“I first thought, ‘Well, that’s ridiculous,” Sue said.

“We had been to the Range since then and I was thinking, ‘What did we do that day?’

“We weren’t the first people in the store, so I’m sure other people would’ve got a ticket.”

The parking fine showed their vehicle entered the car park at 9.58am and departed at 10.51am.

Fine - Sue appealed the fine and paid the £60 discount (Image: Sue, public)

Although the main signage warns motorists not to park for more than two hours, smaller text below outlines restricted hours of use.

The fine, dated July 10, arrived a week later with an offer to reduce the charge to £60 if paid within 20 days.

Sue lodged an appeal on July 16, the day the fine arrived, but it was rejected.

“It does say on the sign, two hours,” Sue said.

“And then it says no parking outside of those times. That’s why we couldn’t appeal further.

“It probably took me [two minutes] to park into the car park spaces.

“I just paid the £60, because I would rather that than £100.”

Sue also pointed out that she was caught out by the difference between weekday and Sunday hours between the store and car park.

Timings - The Range and the car park open at 8am Monday to Saturday, with the store officially opening at 10.30am Sunday and the car park at 10am (Image: Sue, public)

Previously, the car park opened at 8am and the store at 9am from Monday to Saturday, but both the car park and the store open at 10am on Sundays.

New opening hours now see both open from 8am on weekdays.

A Parkingeye spokesperson said: “The car park at the Range in Clacton-on-Sea is monitored by ANPR camera systems and has 19 prominent and highly-visible signs that give motorists clear guidance on how to use the car park responsibly.   

“The rules are in place to prevent anti-social behaviour and parking abuse, as signage throughout clearly states the terms and conditions of the car park.  

“The motorist in question parked in the car park on Sunday outside of the permitted hours and therefore received a parking charge. 

“Parkingeye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their parking charges. If anyone has mitigating circumstances, we would encourage them to highlight this by appealing. All motorists are also entitled to a further appeal via POPLA, the independent body which reviews all cases.”