Shropshire Star

Changes to timings in Market Drayton car park fines row

Bosses at a controversial car park have taken steps to increase the free parking period from 10 minutes to 15 minutes — but after that drivers will still have to pay by phone.

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The car park adjoining Market Drayton Post Office has been at the centre of debate for weeks after changing to a system which forces motorists to pay over the phone for parking.

But Maroof Shah, owner of the post office, has written to car park management company Creative Car Parking Solutions, asking them to change the system.

He said: "We received so many complaints about people getting fined for staying slightly over time. A few customers even got fined for staying just a few seconds late.

"Firstly we want the company to cancel all the parking tickets which were issued to our dear customers.

"It is giving us a bad name in the local market, which is not good for any business.

"We are here to encourage people to support our local town. By issuing a fine for staying few minutes extra, it discourages everyone to not to use our services.

"Secondly there is bad mobile signal in our area so people can't always pay for their parking. They take a chance to come back in 10 minutes but sometimes the post office is busy and so customers get fined for being late.

"We want to increase our free time from 10 minutes to 15 minutes so people who are using the post office don't have to pay for it."

Residents have planned to stage a peaceful protest outside the car park in High Street on February 4 from 11am to 1pm in a bid to force bosses to bring back the pay and display system.

Mayor Tim Beckett said: "Hopefully when these changes are made the issue will be sorted but we have had a lot of bad press."

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