Fine for leaving retail park on foot!?

golddustmedia

There is a large retail park next door to my place of work which permits 4 hours of parking.

Lots of people at my work park in the retail park and use the shops/restaurants for their lunch etc, staying within the 4 hour limit, but leave the retail park on foot to come into work - for example popping in for a meeting etc.

The retail park have now put up signs advising that people may not leave the retail park whilst their car is parked there and have already issued fines for £100 to people they have monitored on CCTV walking from the retail park to the neighbouring business park.

Personally I feel this isn't right - should a parking company be allowed to restrict your movement and fine you like this?

I agree with those who are bound to say you shouldn't use the retail car park then go to work. I'm looking at this from the point of those of us who do use the retail shops but may have a reason to leave the retail park on foot for a short period. One example would be if someone is coming to our work for a job interview or short meeting. Perhaps they buy a coffee in Costa and/or a sandwich in Asda, but are then fined £100 for spending an hour outside the retail park on foot.

My question, I know that private parking "fines" are not always legally enforceable but lets put the parking element to one side. Is it right to fine someone for where they went on foot whilst parked?

System

Is this UKPC?

The_Deep

Leaving site is very difficult for a PPC to win at court. I doubt if a court would accept evidence from a cctv camera, how does it know who whether the car was next to be used by someone already shopping?

beamerguy

golddustmedia wrote: »

The retail park have now put up signs advising that people may not leave the retail park whilst their car is parked there and have already issued fines for £100 to people they have monitored on CCTV walking from the retail park to the neighbouring business park.

Whose signs say this, the PPC or retail park ??

golddustmedia

IamEmanresu wrote: »

Is this UKPC?

The sign says "This site is managed and operated by UKCPS LTD".

beamerguy wrote: »

Whose signs say this, the PPC or retail park ??

The signs are on every lamp post advising the car park is managed by UKCPS.

The_Deep wrote: »

Leaving site is very difficult for a PPC to win at court. I doubt if a court would accept evidence from a cctv camera, how does it know who whether the car was next to be used by someone already shopping?

The exact wording on the sign is "The Driver of the vehicle must remain on site throughout the entire period of of parking" - No that's not my typing error, the sign actually reads "of of"!

beamerguy

"and have already issued fines for £100 to people they have monitored on CCTV walking from the retail park to the neighbouring business park."

But do the signs actually say this

golddustmedia

beamerguy wrote: »

"and have already issued fines for £100 to people they have monitored on CCTV walking from the retail park to the neighbouring business park."

But do the signs actually say this

Obviously the signs wouldn't say "we have already issued fines" etc.
I'm stating that my work colleagues HAVE received fines for parking then leaving on foot.

i.e. Arrived and left the car park within the 4 hour parking limit, however within that 4 hours they left the site on foot and have been fined for breach of the terms and conditions of parking.

Rosemary7391

Why not just park at work and walk to the retail park?

I don't know if it's enforceable, but I guess it's the car parking equivalent of buying a cup of tea in a cafe and taking all day to drink it. They'd rather the space be taken by a more profitable customer.

Johno100

Does this car park just serve the retail park or other local shopping and business areas as well? I'm asking because there can be occasions where these 'no leaving the site' rules can be in breach of planning conditions imposed by the local authority when the retail park was built. It may be worth enquiring with the council or see if you can find anything online.

golddustmedia

Rosemary7391 wrote: »

Why not just park at work and walk to the retail park?

I don't know if it's enforceable, but I guess it's the car parking equivalent of buying a cup of tea in a cafe and taking all day to drink it. They'd rather the space be taken by a more profitable customer.

The root cause is that there's not enough parking at work. However parking at the retail park does encourage those parking there to be customer by purchasing their lunch etc on site.

However my query is the policy of restricting peoples freedom to leave the retail park whilst still abiding by the time limits applicable to parking. i.e. Is it acceptable for a parking company to restrict where a person goes on foot after they have parked?

Rosemary7391

golddustmedia wrote: »

The root cause is that there's not enough parking at work. However parking at the retail park does encourage those parking there to be customer by purchasing their lunch etc on site.

However my query is the policy of restricting peoples freedom to leave the retail park whilst still abiding by the time limits applicable to parking. i.e. Is it acceptable for a parking company to restrict where a person goes on foot after they have parked?

I think so, because they always have the option of leaving with their vehicle!