Fined £60...driver who didn’t even park his car!
He left after fruitless 11-minute hunt for a decent spot
ENTERING a packed car park, motorist David Shooter drove in circles in a fruitless search for a suitable space.
Frustrated with his lack of success, he gave up after 11 minutes and drove off to park elsewhere.
But he was stunned when he later received a £60 fine in the post because he failed to buy a ticket.
The 65-year- old has now blasted the ‘miserly’ attitude of the car park’s owners after they rejected his appeal.
The retired head teacher said: ‘I was only in the car park for 11 minutes and now I have had to pay £60 for the privilege.
‘I didn’t even park up in a space, so I thought I had good grounds to appeal – so I did. But they threw that out and wrote back to me saying if I did not pay the fine in a set number of days they would start court proceedings against me to recover the money.’
He added: ‘I didn’t want the hassle of going through all that so I have paid up. But what a miserly attitude they had and I suspect other motorists might receive the same type of letter.’
The motorist and his wife had hoped to find a spot in the Euros Car Park in Derby before heading to the theatre in September.
He picked the Siddals Road facility because he didn’t want his 65-year-old spouse, who is suffering from ill health, to have to walk too far. Mr and Mrs Shooter, from Checkley, Staffordshire, arrived at the car park at 6.33pm but failed to find a suitable spot.
‘We drove around for a while looking for a space that wasn’t in a pothole or a puddle’, said Mr Shooter.
‘We were having no luck so I stopped the car briefly and noticed if we were to park there, it would mean my wife would have to climb steps to get to the theatre. She was unable to do [so] because of health complications at the time.
‘I looked at my satnav and found an alternative one so we left.’
Drivers are traced using cameras that record the number plate of vehicles entering the facility.
‘In our case we were there for 11 minutes looking for a space, didn’t even park in one and still got hit for £60’, said the angry motorist.
‘The performance we went to see was thoroughly enjoyable but if I had known how much it was going to cost me I might have thought twice about coming to Derby to see it.’
Euro Car Parks did not respond to requests for a comment.