I had to stop my car for 18 seconds in a red zone at Leeds Bradford airport to deal with a wasp. It was buzzing in front of my face and making safe-driving impossible. The result was a £100 parking charge notice (PCN) sent to my wife (the registered keeper) by Vehicle Control Services (VCS).
I’ve explained the circumstances to VCS, whose CCTV footage shows I only stopped for seconds and never left the car, but it won’t listen. AW, Hebden Bridge Its hearing improved when I contacted the airport, which ordered VCS to refund the charge as “goodwill”. The airport tells me that if you had contacted it directly, it would have intervened.
However, it is evidently worried that its actions in this case will open the floodgates to wasp-ridden drivers. Parking operators are infamously ruthless when enforcing airport no-stopping zones. Drivers have been charged for stopping at temporary lights, or waiting in traffic queues.
By remarkable coincidence, SM of Pontyclun in Wales also stopped for 18 seconds in an airport red zone. She was billed £100 by VCS, via her husband, who is the vehicle’s registered keeper. In her case, the airport was Bristol, and she stopped to read the terms and conditions on a sign planted in the no-stopping area.
Confused, I wanted to make sure I was at the right place.” Her appeal was rejected by VCS, which argued that it is “the motorist’s responsibility to ensure they are familiar with the terms and conditions displayed on the signage” – which is ironic given that SM was doing just that. It was also rejected by the Independent Appeals Service, which concluded that red-route restrictions prohibit stopping under any circumstances. There are 24 lines of information, in varying sizes of font, on the sign SM was studying.
Drivers enter a contract when using a car park and are assumed to have agreed the terms and conditions, or else risk a PCN. It was therefore imperative SM read the notice, and not unreasonable she stopped to do so safely. Bristol airport says: “The customer did not contact us to make us aware of the situation and that she had pre-booked parking.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
