Notice of Proposed Allocation to the Small Claims Track

casper82

IN THE COUNTY COURT

Claim No: ***************

Between

Horizon Parking Limited
(Claimant)

and

**************
(Defendant)

WITNESS STATEMENT OF ****** *******

I,************, of **************, *******, am the Defendant in this claim. I make this statement from matters within my own knowledge and belief.

Introduction

1. The facts set out in this statement are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.
   
   
2. I am a litigant in person with no formal legal training. I have made every effort to present my case clearly and truthfully.
   
   
3. Where I refer to documents or photographs, these are attached as exhibits and referenced PN-1, PN-2, PN-3 etc.
   
   
4. This statement is made in response to the claim brought by Horizon Parking Limited relating to an alleged parking contravention at Tesco Packhorse Road, Gerrards Cross on *******************.
   
   

Preliminary Matter – Claimant Not Attending

1. The Claimant’s solicitors, Gladstones Solicitors Limited, have notified the Defendant that the Claimant will not attend the hearing and asks that the matter be determined in its absence pursuant to CPR 27.9.
   
   
2. The Claimant relies upon a witness statement prepared by a paralegal who has no personal knowledge of the alleged parking event.
   
   
3. As the Claimant has chosen not to attend the hearing, the Defendant is deprived of the opportunity to question the Claimant’s evidence or test the accuracy of the assertions made.
   
   

Conduct of Litigation

1. The Claimant’s witness statement states that the author is a legal assistant employed by the Claimant’s solicitors and has conduct of the matter subject to supervision.
   
   
2. In the High Court judgment Mazur and Stuart v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP, the Court clarified that supervision does not transform an unauthorised employee into an authorised litigator.
   
   
3. The Defendant raises this issue to highlight that the Claimant’s evidence is not from a witness with direct knowledge of the alleged incident but from a third party relying solely on information supplied by the Claimant.
   
   

Defective Particulars of Claim

1. The Particulars of Claim state only that the Defendant’s vehicle was:
   
   

“parked in breach of the terms of parking stipulated on the signage”.

1. The Claim Form does not identify:
   
   

• the specific contractual term allegedly breached
  
  
• the conduct which allegedly constituted the breach.
  
  

1. This generic wording fails to properly particularise the claim.
   
   
2. In Civil Enforcement Ltd v Chan, HHJ Murch held that Particulars of Claim which fail to set out the conduct relied upon for breach of contract do not comply with CPR 16.4 and Practice Direction 16.
   
   
3. Similarly, in Car Park Management Service Ltd v Akande, HHJ Evans confirmed that Particulars of Claim must set out the essential facts relied upon to establish the cause of action.
   
   
4. The Defendant submits that the Particulars of Claim in this case are similarly deficient and invites the Court to consider striking out the claim pursuant to CPR 3.4.
   
   

Background and Events of ******** 2023

1. On ******* 2023, I drove to the Tesco car park at Packhorse Road, Gerrards Cross intending to do some shopping.
   
   
2. The store operated by Tesco closes at 16:00 on Sundays.
   
   

📎 [Placeholder – Exhibit PN-1: Screenshot of Tesco Gerrards Cross opening hours showing Sunday closing at 16:00]

1. I entered the car park at approximately 17:03, as recorded by the Claimant’s ANPR cameras.
   
   
2. The entrance to the car park was open with no barrier or gate restricting entry.
   
   

📎 [Placeholder – Exhibit PN-2: Photograph of car park entrance from driver’s perspective]

1. It was already dark at the time, as sunset occurs early in November.
   
   
2. While driving into the car park I did not see any clear signage indicating that parking would be limited to 15 minutes outside opening hours.
   
   

📎 [Placeholder – Exhibit PN-3: Driver’s-eye view entering the car park showing signage visibility]

1. I therefore reasonably believed that the store might still be open and proceeded to park my vehicle and walk to the store entrance.
   
   
2. Upon reaching the entrance I discovered that the store was closed.
   
   
3. I immediately returned to my vehicle with the intention of leaving.
   
   

Vehicle Could Not Be Started

1. When attempting to leave the car park my vehicle would not start.
   
   
2. This was due to the battery in the vehicle key fob being depleted, which has happened previously with this model of vehicle (Mazda 6, 2014).
   
   
3. As a result I was unable to start the vehicle and leave the site.
   
   
4. With no immediate solution available I had no option but to leave the vehicle temporarily and travel home using public transport.
   
   
5. I later returned to retrieve the vehicle once I was able to resolve the issue.
   
   
6. The Claimant’s ANPR cameras record my vehicle exiting the site at 18:21, which reflects the time taken to deal with the unexpected mechanical issue rather than any intentional overstay.
   
   

Signage and Contractual Terms

1. The Claimant relies upon signage stating that parking is limited to 15 minutes outside opening hours.
   
   

📎 [Placeholder – Exhibit PN-4: Close photograph of Horizon signage showing 15 minute restriction]

1. The sign contains a large amount of small text and multiple conditions that are difficult to read from a moving vehicle.
   
   
2. The restriction of 15 minutes outside opening hours is an unusual and onerous term which would require clear and prominent signage to form a binding contract.
   
   
3. A comparison with the prominent signage in ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis is shown below.
   
   

📎 [Placeholder – Exhibit PN-5: ParkingEye v Beavis signage comparison]

1. The signage at this site does not meet the standard of prominence demonstrated in that case.
   
   

Relevant Legal Principles

1. In Vine v London Borough of Waltham Forest, the Court of Appeal held that a motorist cannot be bound by terms on signage that they had no reasonable opportunity to see.
   
   
2. Given the darkness and lack of clear entrance signage, I submit that no contract could reasonably have been formed.
   
   

Lack of Landowner Authority

1. The Claimant is put to strict proof that it had a valid contract with the landowner authorising it to:
   
   

• issue parking charges at this site;
  
  
• pursue legal action in its own name.
  
  

1. The Claimant has provided no unredacted landowner contract demonstrating such authority for the relevant period.
   
   

Inflated and Unlawful Additional Costs

1. The Claimant seeks to recover £253.19, including:
   
   

• £80 PCN
  
  
• £70 contractual costs.
  
  

1. The signage indicates a parking charge of £70, yet the claim form refers to £80, which is inconsistent.
   
   
2. The additional £70 appears to be an attempt at double recovery.
   
   
3. In ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis, the Supreme Court held that the parking charge already includes the operational costs of running the parking scheme.
   
   
4. The additional sums claimed are therefore unreasonable and unrecoverable.
   
   

Conclusion

1. I entered the car park believing the Tesco store was open.
   
   
2. The entrance was open and no clear indication was visible that parking would be limited to 15 minutes outside opening hours.
   
   
3. Upon discovering the store was closed I returned immediately to my vehicle to leave.
   
   
4. My vehicle could not be started due to an unexpected key battery failure.
   
   
5. The alleged overstay therefore occurred due to circumstances outside my control.
   
   
6. In light of the unclear signage, the absence of clear contractual terms, and the inflated costs claimed, I respectfully request that the Court dismiss the claim.
   
   

Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true.

Signed: _________________________

Name: ********

Date: _________________________

casper82

Hello @Coupon-mad and @Gr1pr

I've put together my WS with regards to my story, based on the information I could gather from other similar cases, and used my precise facts and data, to suit my case. I would need you help really to take a look and let me know if I am totally OFF, or if this is somehow OK and relevant for such court hearing as I have zero experience and no skills on this matter.

Coupon-mad

That's good but the Statement of Truth is 5 years out of date.

You need to attach the transcripts of Chan and Akande as your first 2 exhibits. You can find them in @Le_Kirk 's judgments thread.

Remove this as it isn't true if Elise Davies signed it:

"The Claimant relies upon a witness statement prepared by a paralegal who has no personal knowledge of the alleged parking event."

and remove:

Conduct of Litigation

1. The Claimant’s witness statement states that the author is a legal assistant employed by the Claimant’s solicitors and has conduct of the matter subject to supervision.
   
   
2. In the High Court judgment Mazur and Stuart v Charles Russell Speechlys LLP, the Court clarified that supervision does not transform an unauthorised employee into an authorised litigator.
   

casper82

wooow, thank you for the quick reply, was not expecting it this late, it's almost midnight, get some rest all, have a good night, I'll reach out tomorrow.

casper82

alright, I made t he changes @Coupon-mad suggested in my WS.

Also I found this: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2jef4c7bljyp6dse24p70/Judgments.pdf?rlkey=jsgusx180wzjz2f6er0436xw2&e=2&st=03x4tsbq&dl=0

Are these the exhibits for  the transcripts of Chan and Akande ?

Do I need to add these into my actuall WS PDF file ?

Le_Kirk

No that is the list of all judgments, you need: -

Chan_Akande

You can add it as a footnote

casper82

Ohh OK makes sense, thanks for the links.
I want to use my video as exhibit, how do I provide these to the court in my WS, do I upload them on my google drive and provide a link in the WS, or do I upload them on youtube and provide link to the YT video in my WS ?

I actually went to the site today (Tesco at Gerrards Cross) and took videos and pictures after the sun set down, which is the situation I was in when I got the fine, it was also dark outside.

The signage is a joke, honestly, I only saw 2x signs driving into the car park along the entrance road, which from the drivers seat and at night time, you can't read a thing while driving. Then when I parked, there was one more sign, but you can't see what's on it from the distance, and ironically it was under a super bright light which was blinding my eyes when you look at that direction. Then I took another video as I existed the car and walked all the way to the Tesco's front door, and there was not a single sign along the walk path, explaining the conditions of parking etc.. ( apparently you can only stay for max of 2 hours, or 15 minutes when the store is closed ).

Gr1pr

You have to submit videos on a durable medium, such as USB sticks or DVDs

casper82

USB sticks, really ? google drive download link won't be accepted ? Since the deadline is tomorrow 4pm, I wont have the opportunity to deliver USB key by then (I have not seen a CD in 10 years)

Coupon-mad

Then you'll have to share a Google drive link but that's not a 'durable medium' that can't be changed for a different link.