'Their approach ignored the emergency exemptions outlined in the Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice' - Your Letters: August 18
PICTURE FROM THE ARCHIVE: A picture taken on April 29, 1966, as a group of women get to work in the fields of Shropshire. The caption on the back of the print says they were ‘performing the service potato planting on a farm at Bicton’. The weather appears have been kind, with the sun shining on the workers.
PARKING FINES ARE SO UNFAIR
I recently received a £100 parking charge from Parkingeye after stopping briefly at Cambrian Works – 2 in Oswestry to assist a woman whose car had broken down and that had been pushed into the car park by passers-by.
I was there for just 18 minutes, helping her contact the RAC and confirming assistance was on its way.
Despite submitting a full explanation and a signed witness statement, Parkingeye refused to cancel the charge.
The official appeals body, POPLA, also rejected it – focusing solely on whether a parking contract had been formed, rather than the purpose of my visit.
Their approach ignored the emergency exemptions outlined in the Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice.
I attempted to contact the landowner, as advised, only to find that Cambrian Heritage Railways, based next to the site, do not own the land and don’t know who does. This leaves the public in a kafkaesque situation where no one is accountable, yet charges are enforced with automated rigidity.
This experience suggests a wider issue with how private parking is enforced – not just in Oswestry but nationwide. The system lacks transparency, discretion and basic fairness. It punishes those who act in good faith and provides no clear route to appeal beyond a tick-box process.
