A family who were stung with parking fines at Fantasy Island on the Lincolnshire coast have slammed the 'crazy amount of money' that people are made to pay. Retired local government officer Louise Monaghan explained relatives had travelled in three separate cars for the family outing but they had been caught out by the system in place.
Smart Parking (UK) Ltd uses ANPR at the pay-on-exit car park in Sea Lane, Ingoldmells, to record the arrival and departure times of vehicles. But the parking meters do not automatically calculate how long a vehicle has been there for and default to the minimum £2 cost per hour fee.
Families affected say they pay their money, only to receive a £60 'parking charge notice' for not paying the correct tariff. The charge rises to £100 if not paid in 14 days and a £10 admin fee is added if it remains unpaid after 28 days from issue. Motorists have been penalised because they were unaware they need to manually add time by using a '+' button on the side of the meter to select their correct length of stay, or say the function simply does not work, as reported by Lincolnshire Live.
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Mrs Monaghan, who is one of a growing number of people who have posted about their experiences in the Fantasy Island Smart Parking PCN Appeals Facebook group, said she was stunned to read how many people said they had been hit with fines. "I was taken aback by the amount of people who have had the same problem as us," she said.
Mrs Monaghan, who is 59 and from Cheshire, explained her sister, Janine, who lives in Trusthorpe, was fined after using the car park last month. Mrs Monaghan, who is preparing a second appeal against the charge, said: "The signs around the car park said payment could be made when leaving.
"We decided to do this as we didn’t know how long we’d stay. When we all left, at different times, the car park ticketing machines would not let us enter more than the £2 fee. I thought the first meter I tried to use was faulty so I tried another. When I increased the plus button the tariff would not increase.
"Normally, where ANPR is used in car parks, you enter your registration number and the meter tells you exactly how long you have been there for based on what ANPR has recorded. From what I understand, the cameras at this car park are there to trace your vehicle not to calculate your length of stay. I was taken aback by the amount of people who have had the same problem as us." Other families have come forward to share their experience.
Ben Jones, 37, visited the resort with his wife Anneka, also 37, and their four-year-old daughter Sophia on August 17 and paid what he thought was the correct fee, only to receive a £60 parking charge notice in the post. Mr Jones said: "We had taken our daughter to the indoor soft play centre. We saw the sign in the car park and understood the tariff is in two-hour slots.
"We were coming up to two hours so we decided to move to another car park. In big letters the sign states that ANPR automatically calculates the length of stay from when you enter to when you leave. The instructions on how to pay tell you to enter your number plate onto the meter screen and pay for your parking.
"The lowest amount you can pay is £2 and '2.00' automatically comes up on the screen. But people are thinking that the '2.00' means two hours' parking. I genuinely thought I had paid the right amount but a few days later I get a penalty charge notice. I've since found out the machines do not calculate your stay, so the '2.00' is the cost per hour of parking and I was supposed to psychically know that I should add time on using a '+' button on the far side of the machine."
Mr Jones, a finance assistant from Leicester, also made reference to the amount of people who've said they've been fined on the Facebook group. He said: "There needs to be clearer signs to tell people that they will need to change the tariff dependant on their length of stay. Nobody has any spare money at the moment, especially money to pay a parking firm crazy amounts of money like this."
Last month it was reported that East Lindsey District Council had launched an investigation into the car park over a potential breach of planning control. The council is investigating whether the ANPR cameras, ticket machines and car parking restrictions notices were installed without planning consent.
A spokesperson for the council said: "The council received a complaint about the car park. The council is now investigating the matter of that complaint." In a statement, Fantasy Island said: "Our car park arrangement, management and payment systems are operated by a third party management company, SmartParking, who are heavily governed, regulated and inspected by the BPA (British Parking Association)." Lincolnshire Live has contacted Smart Parking (UK) Ltd for comment but has not received a response at the time of publication.
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