An Uber driver was left furious after he was fined £100 for pulling over to speak to a parking attendant.
Gerald Stenberg, from Formby, collects passengers from Liverpool John Lennon Airport (JLA) every day. The 70-year-old, who has been a private hire driver for 20 years, was hit with a fine after being told he had stopped in a prohibited zone.
However, he said this was just a brief stop in order to speak to an attendant about ongoing issues he and other drivers had been having with JLA's free car park. After the ECHO raised this with the airport, they have now asked for his fine to be waived.
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Gerald told the ECHO that he and other taxi drivers wait in the Speke-based airport's free car park until flights come in, when they then head to the pick-up area to collect passengers.
Drivers are entitled to 40 minutes of free parking before they are charged at the car park, which is a five- to ten-minute walk from the terminal. However, he said there had been confusion regarding that car park for months.
He said the car park's barriers have not always been in use since Christmas and tickets have not always been issued to drivers. Gerald added a sign saying 'Free Passage' has been on display near the entrance.
Gerald said this has led drivers to be unsure about how long they can stay in the car park, while the lack of tickets mean they have been left without a way to pay. Gerald said one of his colleagues was recently stopped on his way out of the car park and told to pay. The driver explained the car park wasn't issuing tickets, so he had no way to pay, but the attendant argued the contrary.
On February 8, seeking clarity on the parking situation after that incident, Gerald pulled up next to an official van at the airport in order to speak to a member of staff. This was what landed him with a fine.
Gerald said: "About a week after my mate had to pay, I was just coming out of the free car park. I happened to see the parking camera van so I thought I'd go over to ask what was happening with the car parks.
"I pulled up, spoke to the lady in the van and her advice was 'go in for free but don't stay longer than 40 minutes because you never know when they're going to fix it'. I said they haven't put any signs up and it says 'free passage'.
"She said that doesn't mean anything. I said 'they haven't got a sign up there, it's unclear. It just says free passage and it's not issuing tickets'.
"We had that brief conversation, I said it wasn't good enough and then I drove away. Next thing I know, I've got this charge notice to pay £100 or £60 if I pay within a certain time."
The document issuing Gerald's fine states it was for: "Stopping in a zone where stopping is prohibited". It also includes CCTV images of Gerald's car pulled up next to what appears to be a parking van, with his window down.
Gerald described the fine as "ruthless" and added: "They need better signage. I park in the free car park every day and I wanted to know what was going on".
A Liverpool John Lennon Airport spokesperson said: "It would appear that this driver hasn’t appealed his Parking Charge Notice, so this is the first time that either VCS, the company who police the airport roads or ourselves have been made aware of the particular circumstances surrounding the issuing of this PCN. It appears that on this occasion, since this driver stopped on a restricted road to briefly query a parking issue, he should not have been issued with a PCN by VCS and as a consequence we have requested that this be waived."
VCS has been contacted for comment.
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