Father, 31, is handed a £70 parking fine after a hospital appointment for his son’s broken leg because he got stuck in a traffic queue for 45 MINUTES as he tried to leave the car park
- Scott Michael Clarke, 31, parked at the car park outside Lincoln County Hospital
- He and his family made it back to the car from an appointment half an hour early
- However, the father claims they were stuck in a queue of traffic for 45 minutes
- Mr Clarke was shocked to then be hit with a £70 parking fine a few weeks later
A furious father has claimed he was given a £70 parking fine after being stuck in a queue waiting to get out of a hospital car park for 45 minutes.
Scott Michael Clarke, 31, from Sleaford, Lincolnshire, paid £1.70 to park outside Lincoln County Hospital and take his one-year-old son to a routine one hour appointment after he had broken his leg in a fall.
The family made it back to their car with 30 minutes to spare – but traffic in the car park meant it was another 45 minutes before they managed to exit and have their number plate recorded by the automatic cameras.
Mr Clarke, a retail branch manager at We Buy Any Car, was then hit with a £70 fine by Parking Eye, which runs the car park.
Scott Michael Clarke, 31, from Sleaford, Lincolnshire, was fined after getting stuck in a queue to leave a car park at Lincoln County Hospital. He had paid £1.70 to park and take his one-year-old son (pictured together) to a routine one hour appointment after he had broken his leg in a fall
The father said he was shocked by the fine because he’d vacated his parking space well within the time allowed.
Mr Clarke explained: ‘We got in the car with the ticket and went to leave but then that’s when we noticed all the traffic.
‘The main road was packed and not moving. It took us 45 minutes to get out of the car park.
‘We didn’t think anything of it as we had paid, but then a few weeks later we received the letter.
‘We tried phoning but there was no way of calling them, so we sent a copy of the ticket and a letter to Parking Eye thinking it was all sorted until we got another letter.’
That letter, received on February 13 for the alleged offence on October 30, warned Mr Clarke that he needs to fork out the money or face going to court.
Although he has no intention of paying the fine, Mr Clarke admits to being unsure as to where he stands.
‘I was shocked and rather annoyed. Also, I couldn’t believe that a company like that doesn’t even have a customer service number,’ he said.
‘I just thinks it’s a ploy to put people off from appealing and instead just paying the fine.’
Mr Clarke said the family had made it back from the hospital appointment and vacated their spot half an hour before the ticket ran out
He added: ‘Getting the ticket in the first place when we know we paid and the fact that getting it was due to something out of control with the traffic is horrendous.’
The father is now hoping that he will be successful in contesting the fine.
Meanwhile, he is calling for changes to be made so people who have genuinely paid to park aren’t caught out.
‘I don’t blame the hospital but do believe they need to change the parking there as people just go in and out in all different ways,’ he said.
‘Maybe traffic lights could be put up to let hospital traffic out.
‘I definitely believe the system needs changing because if it’s happened to me, who else will be next?
‘Some little, old lady that will just end up paying as she doesn’t know how to use the internet and can’t appeal.
‘I believe it’s wrong that a company such as Parking Eye doesn’t even have a customer service number.
‘Every company has some sort of customer service nowadays. I’m just shocked they haven’t.’
The hospital’s parking scheme has caused controversy since it was introduced in November 2018, with drivers complaining about lengthy delays and unfair fines.
A Parking Eye spokesperson said: ‘In this case the motorist was 28 minutes over the time purchased.
‘We are not aware that there were any delays in exiting the car parks on this date.
‘In the event that a motorist stays beyond their time purchased they are able to pay for additional time via the good2go website up to 24 hours after leaving the car park.’