CAB calls on motorists to challenge Luton Airport drop off parking fines
27.10.11
Motorists hit with parking tickets at Luton Airport are being advised to challenge them, the Leighton Buzzard Observer reports. As the car park is on private land operated by APCOA Parking on behalf of Luton Airport, while the ticket may look like an official fixed penalty notice, it is not; it is a civil and not criminal matter a Citizens Advice Bureau spokesperson told the newspaper.
She said: ‘[The parking ticket] is a notice that they intend taking you to court for trespassing and will offer to let you pay some money to settle the case out of court. This is not a criminal matter. There is no independent appeal process for parking fines on private land, but if the parking operator decides to take you to a county court, the court may decide you do not have to pay the fine – for example because the parking restrictions weren’t clear. A parking operator does not have a legal right to recover a parking fine without first taking court action against you.’
A Luton Borough Council spokesman confirmed that the council is responsible for parking enforcement on public roads, a power it took over from the police in 1999. He said: ‘The road leading to the Airport from the Holiday Inn Hotel onwards to the terminal is a private road over which the public have access. The Airport is responsible for their own parking enforcement on this road.’
Luton Airport spokesman Oli Jaycock said: ‘All communications distinguish that an enforcement notice will or has been issued. There is a standard charge of £80 reducing to £40 if paid within 14 days.’ He told the newspaper that the charge was introduced in August last year ‘to deter drivers from picking up or setting down passengers in unauthorised areas, which poses a risk to both the safety of passengers and that of other road users, as well as causing congestion and disruption to traffic. The charge is strictly enforced with mobile CCTV cameras.’
The airport refused to comment on how many people had been taken to court for refusing to pay the fine. You can find out more about your rights by visiting www.adviceguide.org.uk then enter ‘parking’ in the search engine.
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