THE company behind the enforcement of parking charges at Junction One Retail Park has been cleared of wrongdoing following an investigation by a national industry body.
Civil Enforcement (CE), which issues invoices on behalf of the shopping park, was under investigation by the British Parking Association (BPA) accused of various transgressions by a shopper who won an appeal against his £100 fee.
The company has now been cleared of allegations questioning the evidence and photographs submitted by CE when pursuing the charge, and accusing the company of using signs which did not meet BPA regulations.
Peter Beasley, compliance manager for the BPA, said he could see no problems with the way CE operated.
He said: “CE ANPR cameras capture vehicles entering and exiting the car park. Nothing beyond this point is captured as this would be capturing vehicles on the public highway.
“The cameras are well within the private land to be capturing vehicles entering the private land only.
“All CE signs in the car park state that ANPR is in use. CE confirm that their signs are larger than the required size set by the BPA.
“I am informed that CE have made amendments to their witness statement and have had this approved by the BPA. CE also informed both the BPA and POPLA about this and the issue has been addressed.”
As reported in last week’s Observer, Junction One will introduce newly relaxed parking regulations tomorrow (Friday) in response to criticism of controls which were introduced in February and suspended in May.
Shoppers will now be able to park for six hours at a time, while more prominent signs – 55 in total – will include a helpline number allowing people to appeal against charges they feel are unfair.
