A taxi driver says he was slapped with a £100 penalty for staying too long in a garage car park because a delivery truck blocked him in. Leonard Egbedi, 43, said he was trapped in the garage forecourt after getting a £4 car wash when the HGV delivering to the shop stopped him leaving.
The private hire driver from Manchester was taking a client 220 miles to Lewisham, south east London, when he stopped to wash his car at the Shell garage on May 13. After his car was washed he tried to leave, but the exit was blocked by a delivery lorry, he said.
Leonard said he and other vehicles were all lined up waiting for the truck to move so they could exit. By the time Leonard had washed his car and waited for the lorry to move, he had “parked longer than the maximum period allowed” and so received a charge notice for £104 in the post.
Leonard said he was shocked to receive the fine as “there were no obvious signs".
He said: "I couldn't see any suggestion there was a limit. If there was any sign it should be on the machine.”
Leonard has appealed the fine and tried to contact Euro Car Parks, but he says the company is “unreachable".
He added: "You can’t reply back to their emails, it is just blocked.”
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Euro Car Parks gave Leonard 14 days to pay the discounted fine of £60 before the full amount of £100 would be owed. But appealing the fine has meant Leonard missed the 14-day period and if it reaches the maximum 28 days to pay, Euro Car Parks said it can “pursue you for the parking fine”. That pursuit can be as severe as civil court action.
Leonard added: “It is very stressful, read the reviews on Google, you will weep. I hope other people don't fall victim to this."
Other customers of the Lewisham Shell garage have shared a similar experience, with one Google reviewer commenting “be careful, I used their power wash and other facilities and got a PCN from Euro Car Parks”.
Mr Egbedi wants to see the Government take action to stop private companies from targeting customers in this way.
He added: "I just hope someone in government sees this situation and decides to take action, because this has got to change. It's not right."
Euro Car Parks has been approached for comment.
