Parents 'in the dark' over sports day parking fines

Parents who received parking fines after attending their children's sport day say they remain "in the dark" over whether their appeals were successful.

Hundreds were issued with the £100 penalty notices in July after an event held by Thames Valley Athletics Club in Eton, Berkshire.

Parents from schools including Churchmead, St Edwards Middle and Dedworth were told to ignore the fines because an agreement was in place with the athletics club.

Thames Valley Athletics Club said it had been informed by the third party parking enforcement firm that the process of cancelling fines had begun.

Richard Endicott said his family went home "joyous" after the event but then received a parking fine three weeks later.

He said it had appeared parking firm Smart Parking Ltd had ignored the agreement between the schools and the club.

He said those attending the sports day had paid in advance to park for the day at a discounted rate.

"The parking ticket demanded £100, reduced to £60 if paid within a certain amount of time - so we appealed that," he said.

"A month later we received a second letter saying the appeal had been rejected and the fine was still applicable."

Mr Endicott welcomed the news about the fines seemingly being set to be cancelled.

But he said he had heard nothing from Smart Parking or the athletics club so still felt like he was "in the dark" over whether their counter appeals had been accepted or not.

Smart Parking has been contacted for comment.

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