'Secure' Cardiff Airport car park leaves keys in doors
03.12.06
Holidaymakers have been told that their cars may not be as secure as they thought at a Cardiff Airport car park, the South Wales Echo reports. An investigation by trading standards watchdogs discovered cars parked at the Airparks Cardiff Airport car park were being moved from a secure compound near the airport - with some left with the keys in the door. Holidaymakers' cars were also being taken from Airparks' Port Road base to an old quarry more than three miles away in the rural Vale of Glamorgan, near Llancadle.
A Vale of Glamorgan council trading standards spokesman told the newspaper: 'We discovered that one of the off-airport parking providers was taking cars out of their secure compound where customers assumed their cars would be parked for the duration of their holidays. What was actually happening was that they were being driven to a quarry where they were being parked. What shocked officers was that they were able to walk onto site, where they found rows and rows of cars parked with the car keys in the doors - definitely not secure parking.'
The consumer watchdogs found the parking operator's terms and conditions allowed them to move cars off site during busy periods, so no criminal breaches of consumer protection legislation was being committed. But a council spokesman said that Airparks was warned of enforcement action, because it did not have permission to use the site for parking. 'This has now been stopped,' he added.
Airparks, which offers secured car parking, said keys were in the car doors because the vehicles were about to be returned to the company's main site. They had rented extra land for overflow parking because of increased demand for parking.
Airparks charges £4.50 for a day and £19.60 for a week's parking, compared to £8.95 and £31.70 at the airport. The company, owned by Holiday Extras, said: 'We have operated secured car parking from its site at Port Road, Rhoose, for the past nine years. Parking close to Cardiff airport is very limited and can be extremely expensive. Airparks' aim is to provide conveniently located car parking close to the airport at an affordable price.'
'In 2006, in particular, there has been an increased demand for parking, especially over the school holidays. This prompted us to rent additional overflow car parking just over three miles from its main site. This site was ideally located, close to the main site, so did not take long for cars to be taken to or from the main site.'
'This site, which is in a quarry, has two sets of security - a barrier at the main entrance and an inner compound for the cars with six foot peripheral fencing. It has 24-hour security with security patrols and guard dogs.'
'The company has records of trading standards visiting the overflow site in October. When asked about keys in about half-a-dozen cars, we confirmed these cars were about to be moved to the main site at Port Road to meet returning passengers. The cars could not exit the site as barriers cordoned off the quarry from the main road.'
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