Chester Parking Cost

chattyuk

Hi All,

I recently parked in the council owned Brook Street carpark in Chester recently and ended up paying more than expected.

I parked at 5am on a Thursday and picked the car up Sunday afternoon. I expected to pay £22 - £2 for arriving before 6am and 4 x £5 for being over 4 hours a day. Instead I was charged £28.

I understand how they got to that (4 x £2 + 4 x £5) but it doesn't seem right to me. The charges are based on the arrival time, I only arrived once. Is this unclear to anybody else or am I being a bit of an idiot here?

MrJenkinsEsq

The sign's wording doesn't match the order it's conveying. I think you have been over charged. I don't know how you go about getting a refund though.

https://publicnoticeportal.uk/notice/traffic-and-roads/6a19650ccbc25b805a1c386f

daveyjp

It does state 'daily charges'. The council believes every day is therefore £7. £5 plus a £2 after 6pm charge.

One to take up with the council car parks manager.

MrJenkinsEsq

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82150077#Comment_82150077

The sign is somewhat irrelevant. It cannot impose charges outside of the order that set up the tariff schedule. The order, insofar as it's made public via the link, states no daily charge and no daytime arrival charge. The full order would clarify but I can't find it. It would require a request to the council to confirm.

MrJenkinsEsq

I've put an FOI in. If the machine is incorrect I wonder how many extra pennies they've pocketed!

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/brook_street_car_park_chester_ch

Reading it back, I've not worded #3 correctly 😑 #1 & #2 are the main concern for now anyway.

Umkomaas

Get some additional advice from the FTLA forum that specialises in Council parking charges/penalties.

https://www.ftla.uk/index.php?board=4.0

Car1980

How can a car arrive if it's already there?

I think they mean day charge and night charge though. That would make their sums correct.

But your understanding of "arrivals" makes your interpretation correct.

Even if the TRO supports their sums, still worth going to the Tribunal because the onus is always on the council to make things clear. Simply using times and binning the strange usage of "arrivals" would make it clearer. Their sign does not take into account anyone staying more than 24hours.

You pay for units of time - you don't get a bespoke quote depending on when you turn up.

MrJenkinsEsq

FOI reply is in on the WDTK link above. The council sent the 2015 Order and the May 2026 notice, nothing else, and marked it full disclosure. Neither sets a daily charge for Brook Street and neither mentions a 7am to 6.59am charging day. Brook Street is Schedule 6, charged by arrival time and length of stay, no limit on stay, charging hours 7am to 10pm. The notice just lists the bands and the after 6pm charge and calls the hours 24hrs. The nearest the Order gets to a daily charge is Article 32(i), which makes a driver who loses the entry ticket pay the maximum daily charge, and Schedule 6 never says what that is or that it repeats. Where the council wanted an overnight charge it wrote one. Trinity Street in Schedule 1 has an after 5pm charge that expressly runs to 9.30am the following day. Brook Street got arrivals after 3pm free. A sign cannot add charges the Order does not set.

I don't think the reply is complete though. Asked how stays over 24 hours are charged they said daily from 7am to 6.59am as per the notice and the notice doesn't say that. Asked when the after 6pm charge started they said since at least 2 February 2015, which is the day the Order came into force, and on that day Schedule 6 had arrivals after 3pm free. Bishop Street is free in Schedule 13 but has charges in the 2026 notice, and the notice itself refers to Orders in the plural, so something varied the Order after 2015 and they haven't sent it. It might contain a daily charge for Brook Street. I'm going to request a review.

If you made a post on FTLA point them at the WDTK link. They might provide a better insight.

If the FOI is not missing an order, and I've not misunderstood anything, then 1,324 stays over 24 hours since June 2025, charged £29,772. At the published top band that would be about £6,100, so roughly £23,600 over sixteen months!