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Nov 2020

Transport

Reprieve for shoppers fined at Knaresborough retail park

Published: 10 Nov 2020, 09:00 GMT

by Calvin Robinson

Customers who were fined for parking in unmarked trolley bays at St James Retail Park in Knaresborough are to have their fines written off by the management company. It follows intervention by Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones.

St James Retail Park, Knaresborough.

Shoppers at a retail park in Knaresborough who were fined for parking in unmarked trolley bays are to have their penalty notices written off.

People using St James Retail Park received fines from management company, HX Car Park Management Ltd, after parking in bays that did not have the usual barriers, markings or shelter.

Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, wrote to the company following complaints from angry constituents.

Now the company has said all appeals will be accepted and markings will be put in place to distinguish the bays from parking spaces.

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In a letter to Mr Jones, the company said:

“As we only recently began issuing tickets through a self-ticketer, our client received a high volume of complaints due to drivers parking here previously and not being issued a penalty charge notice.

“Consequently, our client requested that all appeals be accepted and no further tickets issued until markings have been put in place to state ‘no parking’.”

The Stray Ferret contacted HX Car Park Management Ltd for further comment, but did not receive a response.

In a post on his website, Mr Jones said he welcomed the move from the company to waive the fines.

He said:

“I was pleased to help several constituents with their appeals. Thanks to the parking management company for being sympathetic to the appeals that were made.

“They could simply have ignored them and implemented the fines but they properly considered the evidence we put before them and chose a fair way or resolving the problem. Credit where credit is due.

“The letter does end with the warning though that when the bays are marked up then fines will start again so I would urge everyone to make sure they are parking legally to avoid a nasty shock when they get back to their car.”

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Reprieve for shoppers fined at Knaresborough retail park

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