Private company working for LA - Is this enforceable?

annoyeddriver_2

Hi all

At the weekend my partner and I visited The Beechs grill in Burnham Beeches, Slough.

Our cars were both parked in what we thought was the pub carpark and had dinner. When we returned, we both had a 'parking charge notice' stuck to our windscreens from District Enforcement Ltd. This was very frustrating as we saw no signs / machines etc on entry. The pubs website claims it has a carpark, but when we rang them they said it was nothing to do with them. They are asking for £70 each or £35 each if paid within 14 days.

I know that District Enforcement Limited is a private company and the notice makes no mention of a council / local authority etc. However, I found this link:

search for: the stag carpark burnham beeches - second result on the most popular search engine - PDF

which seems to suggest the land is owned by the City of London local authority.

As the City of London didn't issue the ticket can it safely be ignored?

Alternatively can I send £4 to the City of London, with a letter saying we are the registered keepers (not drivers) and that we would have paid if we knew we had to?

Thanks in advance.

TrickyWicky

Councils are allowed to contract out their car parks to private operators to operate. Nothing wrong about that. However unless the operator is actually enforcing for that council (which in your case they're not) then you don't need to worry about the private PCN they've given you.

Coupon-mad

Parking Charge Notice = scam. Ignore the whole thing.

Penalty Charge Notice or Fixed Penalty = (usually, unless a PPC are issuing an even more dodgy notice than normal) real ticket from a Council or Police.

Please read the stickies, watch the Watchdog video linked in 'welcome, please read before posting'. See the top of the sub-forum, along with a thread showing you the whole letter-chain of scamograms to ignore.

lostinthewoods

Hi annoyeddriver.

You are right that the City of London is a local authority but not THE local authority here. The whole of Burnham Beeches is owned by the Corporation of London. But they are landowners, not acting in any LA capacity. if this was inside the City it would be a different matter. So given that and the 'parking charge' you may treat this as a private ticket. One confusing thing for those unfamiliar with the area is that the Corporation or London use their crest on signs around the woods, but this is just their style and not an attempt to govern any bits of Berkshire.

bondy_lad

dont do a thing other than IGNORE,,and similarly any threat o grams you recieve.no crime committed ,as its a fake ticket and not as previously posted A PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE=LEGIT,,,what you have a PARKING charge notice=unenforceable invoice not backed by any legal powers,,in other words loo paper.nothing can/will happen to you,, relax, chill, feet up, glass of wine,,oh by the way,,,IGNORE.

esmerobbo

In their PDF for parking on this site. http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/AAA25BB8-F9CA-44F6-BA6A-E1373018A2AA/0/OS_BB_CarparkchargesFAQpublicdraft3.pdf

"Does the City of London have the right and/or powers to charge for parking? Yes – as local authority and owner of the site."

It certainly does have the right to charge for car parking but don't know what powers they believe they have? Especially as the bulk of any charge would be going to the PPC!

annoyeddriver_2

Thanks all. Much appreciated.

I might ring the City of London and complain about the wording of that document. It is rather underhand and obviously meant to scare people into paying.

vax2002

It is a scam of impersonation of authority and confusion of authority.
Anything that does not say :

PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE
The Traffic Management act 2004

Is a FAKE ticket and can be ignored.

AlexisV

Perform a FOI request and ask which company they hold a contract with to manage that car park.

vax2002

Fake information linked to car parks hosted by private parking companies is a tactic of the confusion, they write on blogs, fake forums and even fake websites to fool people in to confusion that they are some type of council contractor.
The only information you need is the ticket or letter they send.

Anything that does not state
PENALTY CHARGE NOTICE
The Traffic Management act 2004

Is FAKE.
This includes letters, notices to owners, parking charges, supermarket penalty charges.

annoyeddriver_2

Private Parking Companies - to be honest, you expect that sort of behavior from them. However, when a public body becomes involved in the scam, they should be held to account.