'We're furious at £100 fines from parking warden hiding in shopping mall bushes'
Motorists visiting a city retail park before crossing the road to visit another shopping centre say they are being slapped with fines by "a parking officer hiding in the bushes".
Shoppers at the Peel Centre in Gloucester have been given the £100 penalties after being spotted leaving their car in the car park to visit neighbouring Gloucester Quays Outlet – despite both sites being run by the same owners. Now furious customers have hit out at the policy of not allowing visitors to cross the street from the park.
Parking at the Quays centre is currently paid for, while remaining free at the retail park. As a result, owners brought in a new policy which bans shoppers from parking at the latter and crossing the road.
But furious locals and councillors have criticised the Draconian policy. One shopper hit out at penalising customers crossing the road to use shopping centre's toilet facilities, in what was described as a breach of human rights and “pure greed”.
Councillor Pam Tracey said that, while the rules were stated in small print at the bottom of signs, the method of catching people out was “diabolical” and keeping people away from the city centre. “If you leave your car at the Peel Centre and pop over to Gloucester Quays you get fined,” she told Gloucestershire Live.
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“Apparently this guy stands behind a bush and sees people going over to the Quays. It’s diabolical really. It all comes under the same company. You’ve got Next there and you think you’ll go there and then you’ll pop over to the shopping centre to Marks and Spencer and have a drink at Costa.
“And they are all getting penalised for it. It’s not as if people abuse that car park there. But to pounce on them when they cross the road is diabolical. It’s not fair. The print is so small.”
“The Peel Centre is on the opposite side of the road to the outlet,” one unnamed shopped said. “But the siting of a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights and the nature of retail, means that people will visit both sites in one trip.
“This is obviously financially beneficial for all the retailers and reduces pollution which would be caused if people were to move their cars between car parks. A recent, and unpublicised, change to the parking regulations at the Peel Centre states that shoppers must not leave the site, i.e. cross at the purposely installed pedestrian crossing to visit the Quays outlet.
“Fines have been issued to customers on this basis. From an ethical viewpoint - if the same company owns both sites, surely the company is benefitting from both the footfall and its resultant fines?
“Also – photographic evidence used to 'prove' these infringements uses photos of vehicles only, not shoppers crossing roads. Surely the financial exploitation of consumers should not form part of your business strategy?”
Another shopper, who did not wish to be named, said the fines will drive visitors away from the city centre. “It’s totally wrong. Shopping is going to die in the city,“ they said.
“If I’ve got a lot to buy, I’ll park at the Quays but if I’m shopping at the Peel Centre and just need something quickly I’ll pop over for half an hour. It’s just pure greed. That’s all it boils down to.“
Adam Jolley, Associate Director for Retail Parks at Peel L&P said the firm employs parking control companies to manage on-site parking. He claimed these companies would hold responsbility for addressing any complaints, but insisted the measures were necessary to ensure "genuine customers" could use the car park.
He went on: "For those customers who require access to a toilet, there are available facilities on site in Burger King, Buzz Bingo and Next. The Peel Centre is one of very few free car parks in the city centre, all of which are ‘customer only’. The decision to restrict parking has been well received locally across social media and ahead of the new regime being implemented, Ocean Parking carried out weeks of manned patrols to raise awareness.
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“We do appreciate that parking control can be unpopular with those who receive a parking charge notice (PCN), and it is therefore important for motorists to have access to a clear appeals process including a review by an independent appeals service if a motorist disputes the validity of a PCN. If the recipient of the PCN believes that the parking charge notice was issued outside of the terms displayed on the site signage, they are able to follow the relevant appeals process, including asking the independent body (Popla) to review the facts and come to a decision.”
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