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Motorway Service Areas
trisontana
Posts: 9,472 Forumite
Today's thread about motorway service areas got me thinking about the actual status of these places. I always thought that because they are glorified lay-bys they are part of the public highway and therefore owned by the government. The government then leases out the concessions, such as the filling station and eating places, to various private companies.
So who is actually employing these parking companies? I doubt very much if it's the government (who are the actual land owners). So it must be one of the leasees . In that case they have no right to demand any money from motorists who break their so-called "rules". The contract (if there is any) would be between the land owner and the motorist. But in this case the land owner is not part of the contract because they are not employing the parking company.
Just as Joe Bloggs who owns a burger van in a lay-by on the A5 cannot demand payment from somebody who parks for a long time in that lay-by, then I would have thought that whoever employs a parking company in a service area equally cannot demand any payment.
So who is actually employing these parking companies? I doubt very much if it's the government (who are the actual land owners). So it must be one of the leasees . In that case they have no right to demand any money from motorists who break their so-called "rules". The contract (if there is any) would be between the land owner and the motorist. But in this case the land owner is not part of the contract because they are not employing the parking company.
Just as Joe Bloggs who owns a burger van in a lay-by on the A5 cannot demand payment from somebody who parks for a long time in that lay-by, then I would have thought that whoever employs a parking company in a service area equally cannot demand any payment.
What part of "A whop bop-a-lu a whop bam boo" don't you understand?
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Comments
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An interesting point, unsure how you would sort out that conundrum.I'd rather be an Optimist and be proved wrong than a Pessimist and be proved right.0
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Most Services areas are run by private organisations Details of land rights and possible outright ownership would have to be in the applicable agreement.0
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The government, via the Highways Agency owns most motorway services areas in England.
They then lease the land (the entire land) out to the service operator, e.g. Moto, Roadchef etc. They then operate the services and all the associated areas and sub-lease operations e.g. petrol station to BP, hotel to Travelodge etc, and the same applies to the parking enforcement.0 -
So I was correct in that the actual land-owner is the government. Therefore any "trespass" cases raised by somebody such as Moto or Roadchef have no basis in law because they are not the landowners.What part of "A whop bop-a-lu a whop bam boo" don't you understand?0
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That would depend upon the terms of and the rights conferred in the lease agreement.0
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