27 February 2024 , 15:06
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A mum has spoke of her anger after she was slapped with a £100 parking fine - despite being trapped in a "gridlocked" car park.
Natalie Minaker, 39, had visited Crossley Retail Park in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, just before Christmas to buy a new child's car seat from Smyths Toys. The secondary school teacher parked at the car park, which offers three hours of free parking, at 11.12am on December 22. Ms Minaker and her two daughters, Edith, four and Verity, eight, then visited the shops and returned to the car at 11.50am.
But she says she couldn't leave the car park due a stationary queue of "nose-to-tail" traffic which had brought the area to a complete standstill. Unable to move, she decided to walk home to get her kids some lunch and returned to her car at 1.30pm - with 40 minutes still to spare until her parking expired.
However, the congestion problem hadn't eased and she was stuck in the car park for another hour due to the "obscene level of traffic." As a result, Ms Minaker "overstayed" by 12 minutes, which was picked up by the car park cameras, and she was sent a fixed penalty notice. She received her first letter from parking company G24 notifying her of the charge on January 4.
Natalie with her children in the car during her visit to the car park (SWNS)The mum-of-two appealed against the fine on the company's website, explaining the circumstances. She says days later G24 rejected her appeal and provided a "generic response." They said if she wanted to re-appeal, she had to use an independent appeals service. Ms Minaker put in the appeal with the service and provided more evidence to support her claim.
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She received another response rejecting her appeal, with the company pointing out that she "admitted" she didn't call a helpline on the car park signs on the day. However, she said she was unaware of the number and said it was "not visible from inside of a car stuck in traffic".
She has now received a final notice for payment letter. She believes others who parked in the car park that day may have also been hit with similar fines. Ms Minaker, who works at a school in Wolverhampton, said: "I'm not going to lie, this whole situation is just causing me stress that I could do without. However, I can't bring myself to climb down off this particular hill I have chosen to die on.
The car park signage (Natalie Minaker/SWNS)"It is outrageous that these big companies can act in this way, and someone needs to take a stand. The fine is only for £100, and believe me, if I had genuinely overstayed because of my own actions, I would not hesitate to pay it. This is not about the money. It never has been. This is about fairness."
"I think that my case is just indicative of a wider issue. There is very little independent oversight of the parking industry, meaning that these big companies can act with impunity, coercing people into paying unjust fines with official looking letters and scare tactics".
G24 has been contacted for comment.