APCOA are very shy ....

Sirdan

Sent this to APCOA over a week ago :-
Dear Sir / Madam,

I note that in the terms and conditions for use of the priority drop off area at Luton Airport (http://www.london-luton.co.uk/en/content/7/1164)


you assert the following :


"13.1 If there is any contravention of clause 12.1 (Prohibited activities) we have the right to:..




13.1.2 Apply a wheel clamp to your Vehicle. We adhere to the British Parking Association’s Code of Practice for the clamping of Vehicles. If your Vehicle is clamped notices will be displayed in the Priority set-down area giving a contact telephone number and also specifying the fee to be paid by you for the removal of the wheel clamp. On payment of the sum the clamp will be removed as soon as reasonably practicable;
and/or
13.1.3 Remove your Vehicle. If your Vehicle has been removed there will be notices displayed in the Priority set-down area giving a contact telephone number and also specifying the sum to be paid by you before your Vehicle is released."


However the Protections of Freedoms Act Section 54(1) specifically prohibits clamping and/or removal on private land with out lawful authority.


Could you please explain what lawful authority APCOA acting for Luton Airport have to remove vehicles.


Your attention is drawn to Section 54(2) which says "The express or implied consent (whether or not legally binding) of a person otherwise entitled to remove the vehicle to the immobilisation, movement or restriction concerned is not lawful authority for the purposes of subsection (1)."


I look forward to your response .

---

Guess what no reply ...and having been given a large hint that they are almost certainly breaking the law ..they continue to tow at Luton .
I know the poster who was towed mentioned Endevour and that APCOA pass the buck , but I can assure you that the towing signs at Luton have APCOA logos on them.


Seems to me that coupled with their misleading letters we have seen posted here that APCOA feel they are big enough to break the law as they please.

peter_the_piper

In section 15 there is this nugget.
""Therefore, we have the right to refuse to allow a Vehicle to leave the Priority set-down area or, if we have removed it, to keep it, until all such charges have been paid in full."" So they either clamp it, block it, or remove it. Full house.
This is also against POFA is it not?

ManxRed

Its against the law (Distress Act 1267).

Sirdan

peter_the_piper wrote: »

In section 15 there is this nugget.
""Therefore, we have the right to refuse to allow a Vehicle to leave the Priority set-down area or, if we have removed it, to keep it, until all such charges have been paid in full.""
This is also against POFA is it not?

Yes and no. Refusal to leave is covered by the "fixed" barriers exemption in POFA.
However their claim of a lien is very very shaky IMO ..but I'm not a lawyer.
A garage for example can have what is termed a "posessory lien" on your vehicle which means you pay their bill or no car back !
However APCOA have no such thing in the drop off IMO because :-
You have not given them voluntairily possession of the vehicle, temporairily or otherwise. ..no possession = no possessory lien.
Maybe I am oversimplyfying but to my mind if you have the keys then you have possession not the parking company.

Regulars will recall NCP tried this and the owner of the vehicle sucessfully got an injunction for return of said vehicle.

Just pinged the same E-mail to Luton Airport ..wonder if they will have the cojones to reply..OR maybe I should just ask Luton Police if they know about this alleged crime ???

peter_the_piper

I assumed the drop off areas were open to the public and did not have barriers, am I wrong? I have only been to Gatwick and they have a drive up area.

Sirdan

peter_the_piper wrote: »

I assumed the drop off areas were open to the public and did not have barriers, am I wrong? I have only been to Gatwick and they have a drive up area.

Drive in but you have to put a pound in machine at the exit barrier to leave.
Of course if you drive in without realising this and don't have a pound ..what do you do ?
APCOA terms say you can't leave without paying the pound but if you have dropped off and are alone then you can't leave the vehicle to go and get a pound because then you get towed !!:mad:

ArthurDaley

I think you will find that airport will operate under local byelaws so maybe different to normal ppc cases.
www dot london-luton.co.uk/en/content/8/244/byelaws.html

ManxRed

Only if they display this fact on their signage and correspondence, which APCOA rarely do (if at all).

Sirdan

ArthurDaley wrote: »

I think you will find that airport will operate under local byelaws so maybe different to normal ppc cases.
www dot london-luton.co.uk/en/content/8/244/byelaws.html

Nice try but there is no enabling bye law in that document re removal of vehicles. There are lots of paragraphs on what you can't do which create offences but there is nothing that empowers the Airport Operator to self remedy leaving a vehicle unattended as afar as I can see.

If it were in there I'm damn sure APCOA would have quoted it in reply to my question but no they remain silent ..kinda makes me think they know damn well it ISN'T in there !!!!

RENEGADE_2

ArthurDaley wrote: »

I think you will find that airport will operate under local byelaws so maybe different to normal ppc cases.
www dot london-luton.co.uk/en/content/8/244/byelaws.html

I've had this discussion on another page. If the information presented to me by other users here is correct then there are no byelaws per se akin to railway regulations: such conditions would make penalty tickets payable and we know that APCOA-issued "stopping" invoices are as phony as the rings worn by their staff. There are airport laws which indeed allow the shifting of an obstructing vehicle but this activity is impugned the moment the private company empound the motor and apply a charge for its release: it is my opinion that this is a criminality factor but police see it as borderline.

Sirdan

I suppose they could try and use ,

2.22 No person shall allow any vehicle, animal or thing to be on the airport after having been required to remove it, or after its presence on the airport has been forbidden by an airport official or a constable, and no airport official or constable shall forbid the presence of any vehicle, animal or thing unless he has reasonable grounds to believe that its presence has been responsible for or is about to be responsible for the breach of a byelaw or for a criminal offence.

---

However I'm sure that it is implied that the person being required to remove said vehicle is the driver of the vehicle ! To interpret it otherwise would be perverse in the extreme.

Also I don't see any bye law about leaving vehicles unattended and I am at a loss as to which criminal offence this would be ...so ..we await APCOA / LLAO's answer ..could be a long wait methinks ..................