Darlington MP working to tackle 'unfair' rules at car park in the town
There's been fines for not buying a ticket within five minutes at Feethams Leisure car park
Last updated 26th Aug 2024
The MP for Darlington says she is working to tackle the 'unfair' parking rules at a controversial car park in the town.
People say the operators of Feethams Leisure, which is underneath the DL1 development, require them to buy a ticket within FIVE minutes of entering, or else they are fined £100 or more.
They add that the machines will not accept card payments and its digital methods do not work either because there is no signal.
The car park is run by Excel Parking.
Lola McEvoy, Darlington MP, said: "Honestly, I know shocking is overused but this time it's unbelievably shocking how many people have been affected by this. There's no wi-fi signal under in the car park and it's coins only.
"Just from my point of view as an ordinary lay-person, very rarely do I have coins on me and I would definitely leave the car to go and download the app to come back, and so people have said that takes them more than five minutes to do it, so we have to have a conversation about that.
"I've invited them Excel Parking and asked them to come to Parliament to talk to me face-to-face to give their justification for it because the industry themselves, they've already decided to put a sort of code of conduct forward, a voluntary code, which says it should be at least 10 minutes, so this car park is actually falling behind the industry's own standard so I think there's questions that need answering.
"I'm also talking to other businesses because to me, the complex DL1 is actually brillant. There's some great restaurants and we want it to be a hub in the town but actually a lot of people have come forward and siad they can't use that car park because they've been stung by it. That's the phrase that keeps coming up.
"It's actually been overwhelmingly positive the response that I've had from constituents. People have gotten in touch from not even from Darlington to say 'I'm not your constituent but I just wanted to say go for it because that car park is really annoying.' So it's a very strong response from people in support tackling this because it just feels pretty unfair."
Nicola Rouncefield has been fined and she said: "We parked to get my pram out, so we got the baby out, went over to one of the paypoints and you can't pay by card. It's just cash or pay by a digital method. I tried the QR code it wouldn't work, I tried the website that wouldn't work because the signal's really poor in there.
"Excel then started emailing me constantly. They emailed me at least four times asking for the same information, so it was at this point I said that I felt like they were harrassing me and bullying me trying to cause confusion in the situation to get me to pay the fine unjustly.
"They've upheld the fine and said I need to pay £100 because I didn't purchase a ticket within five minutes. Now, how anybody can unload a pram and get the baby out of the car and then get to a paying machine in five minutes is just ridiculous.
"It's so unjust and so unfair to a customer who has tried to make the effort. They are offering a service and the way they act isn't in-line with normal customer service practices and it's a shame because it'll impact all the other businesses.
"Their appeal process I feel like they are very, very harsh and they throw a load of terms and conditions, citations and legislation to confuse you and to bully you into paying the fine just to get rid of it."
We approached Excel Parking for a comment but they have not responded.