APCOA are very shy ....

Sirdan

Reply from Luton Airport :-

Dear **********,

Thank you for your enquiry dated 5 November 2012,


You are correct that the Protections of Freedoms Act Section 54(1) specifically prohibits clamping and/or removal on private land without lawful authority, there are however notable exceptions to this. Two notable ones are railways and aerodromes, we are in this case the lawful authority.


The towing charge is made to cover the costs (we use a third party) and the cost is £150 + vat which hasn’t been increased for 3 years. The actual charge ermitted by the Prescribed Sums Regulations is £200.

The enforcement was seen to be necessary surrounding the 10 minute maximum waiting time and the no unattended vehicle conditions within the Drop off zone to ensure correct usage and it is only when this is not adhered too and when a car is left unattended, are they then removed. This prevents the area within the Drop Off Zone from being blocked and effectively taken out of service for long periods of time. As this in turn creates tail backing onto the round about which triggers passengers alighting onto a very busy road system causing the direct risk of a road traffic accidents.

I can assure you that every step has been taken to communicate the rules within the area and there are 43 signs in the area explaining that no unattended vehicles may be left and the fact that towing is actively used but it will be reviewed again to see what more can be done. I can also reassure you that it’s compliance that is motivating these enforcement activities not income generation. It is important to ensure that the majority of passengers can access the airport with ease in a quick but safe manner and that the minority who don’t adhered to the rules don’t disproportionately impact those that do but we anticipate that we will design out the need for passengers to alight at the roundabout, however abandoned or unattended cars in unauthorised areas will likely continue to require towing.

If you would like at any point to visit the Airport, I would be delighted to take you through the current arrangements and future plans.

Yours sincerely




Kevin Midgley
Car Parks and Ground Transport Manager
[EMAIL="your.name@ltn.aero"]Kevin.Midgley@ltn.aero[/EMAIL]
www.london-luton.co.uk
London Luton Airport Operations Ltd
Navigation House, Airport Way, Luton, Beds, LU2 9LY

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So it seems that LLAO believe that they are a "lawful authority" ..yet lawful authority requires legislation to back it ..I note they have quoted none.

ArthurDaley

sections 63 and 64 of the
Airports Act 1986

Sirdan

ArthurDaley wrote: »

sections 63 and 64 of the
Airports Act 1986

Again, nice try, but there is no enabling section for removing vehicles . Section 63 and 64 allow for the making of bye laws relating to such matters (and other unrelated matters).

As already pointed out the Luton Airport bye laws have no enabling section re removal of vehicles !

ArthurDaley

but as byelaws they make this action criminal, and not subject to the pofa

Sirdan

ArthurDaley wrote: »

but as byelaws they make this action criminal, and not subject to the pofa

What are you talking about now ?

There is no bylaw in the Luton Airport bylaws that makes leaving a vehicle unattended an offence and hence a criminal matter but even if it did that doesn't allow the Airport using ACPOA to remove said vehicle , criminal matters are still entrusted to the Police NOT private companies !

As regards this Luton bylaw :-

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,

I can assure you that the person in charge of the vehicle is not being "required to remove it " by anyone ..because they aren't even there ,that's when the sneaky mugging towing guys turn up..and remove the vehicle without ANY lawful authority !

ArthurDaley

3.6 No person, other than an authorised person acting in the course of his duty, shall wait in, leave or park a
vehicle:
(a) in excess of the published waiting time limit in any area where waiting is restricted by notice erected by
LLAOL,
(b) in any area reserved by LLAOL for the use of a particular person or group of persons, or
(c) in any area not specifically allocated for the parking of vehicles.

Sirdan

ArthurDaley wrote: »

3.6 No person, other than an authorised person acting in the course of his duty, shall wait in, leave or park a
vehicle:
(a) in excess of the published waiting time limit in any area where waiting is restricted by notice erected by
LLAOL,
(b) in any area reserved by LLAOL for the use of a particular person or group of persons, or
(c) in any area not specifically allocated for the parking of vehicles.

That may create an offence but it does not give the airport any lawful authority to remove said vehicle ..where is that in the byelaws ?

Does it automatically follow that a vehicle in breach of a bylaw may be removed ?? I remain to be convinced...
I'm even less convinced that it really costs £150 a go to complete this operation ..

Sirdan

SO all is still confusing , I mean why do LLAO (Kevin) say this :-
The towing charge is made to cover the costs (we use a third party) and the cost is £150 + vat which hasn’t been increased for 3 years. The actual charge ermitted by the Prescribed Sums Regulations is £200.
"

Those regulations relate to removal/storage and disposal under the Road Traffic Regulations 1984 ..so is he implying that this is their lawful authority ...or is he just confused like everyone else ..

Kite2010

Do you really want unattended cars outside airports?

More of a security risk than anything else

Sirdan

Kite2010 wrote: »

Do you really want unattended cars outside airports?

More of a security risk than anything else

No but you will note that is not the reason given by Luton Airport for towing.

I can tell why as well. There is VIP parking provided by APCOA which is much closer to the terminal building than the drop off area we are discussing. Although these vehicles are technically attended by APCOA staff that doesn't prevent a person(s) who may be a "security risk" from paying APCOA to park there car in this prime position does it ?
So the security arguement as far as this particular airport is concerned is somewhat redundant.
Also worth noting that bombs used by AQ have a tendency to be very much attended ..as per the Glasgow airport attack ..so unattended vehicles are not automatically a higher risk !

Also who in their right mind would tow a vehicle if they thought it was a bomb ..the very act of moving it might set it off ..so no security is not the reason for this towing.