A BARNSLEY couple are now at their wits’ end after receiving three ‘threatening’ letters from a private car parking company demanding they pay a fine despite never even parking on their site.
Sharon and Gary Fletcher both live on Springfield Street, off Dodworth Road, and have been encountering issues in recent months due to ‘nonsense’ letters from firm Smart Parking Ltd.
Their street is a dead end, and so they have to conduct a three-point turn in order to get back onto the main road.
A car park on Springfield Street uses a camera to detect those that use the site, but Sharon says the family car doesn’t need to go into the car park as they pay for on-street voucher parking with Barnsley Council.
Despite this, they have received three letters from Smart Parking demanding they pay a £100 fine.
Sharon told the Chronicle: “When I park outside the house I’m facing the wrong way so when I leave I have to turn it around.
“You don’t need to go into their car park to do this, in fact I’m barely even touching the pavement when I do it.
“But the cameras are picking it up and we’ve had three letters asking us to pay a £100 fine.
“The first two times my husband has gone to them because it’s nonsense and they’ve thrown the fine out but we’ve now had a third one.”
Sharon is worried that other people on her street who don’t speak English as well could be too scared to appeal the fines.
“They’re quite threatening letters as they say if you don’t pay they’ll get debt collectors involved,” she added.
“We think that they’re just chancing their arm.
“Other people might think that they have to pay the fines but it just feels like a scam.”
A spokesperson for Smart Parking told the Chronicle: “We were brought into manage the car park to stop parking abuse and ensure genuine motorists can always find somewhere to park.
“Smart Parking are proud members of the British Parking Association (BPA) and strictly follow its guidelines.
“For motorists who receive charges from us, but feel there are mitigating circumstances in their cases we operate a BPA audited appeals service.
“In the case of this particular motorist, they contacted us and used our appeals service.
“After an investigation, all of the charges were cancelled.”
