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'I didn't park at Lidl, but I was given a ticket'

BBC A woman sits on a sofa looking towards the camera and frowning. She has light brown hair, in a bob, and wears a black cardigan, a green top and a gold necklace.BBC
Sharron Paragreen is "angry" at Parkingeye for rejecting her appeal

A woman received a parking ticket for a supermarket car park she says she never visited.

Sharron Paragreen received the £90 charge from Parkingeye, which manages a Lidl car park in Hull using ANPR cameras.

She said she visited the neighbouring Costa coffee shop, which shares the same entrance as the supermarket in Hedon Road.

Parkingeye said its systems showed "the motorist's vehicle did not enter the Costa car park" and the charge had been issued correctly.

Mrs Paragreen, from Burstwick, said she parked in the Costa car park on 4 December and left well within a three-hour limit advertised on signs.

The Lidl car park next door has a 90-minute limit.

"I just parked my car where I have parked it numerous times before when I go to that Costa," she said.

"It's frustrating because I know where I parked and I know that I turned into the Costa car park.

"My friend parked three car parking places down from me. I got the fine and she didn't."

She said staff in Costa had told her other people had received tickets.

A man and a woman sit at a marble-topped kitchen table reading a parking charge notice printed on an A4 sheet of paper. The man has cropped hair and wears a grey, long-sleeved top. The woman has light brown hair, in a bob, and wears a black cardigan, a green top and a gold necklace.
Mrs Paragreen and her husband, Pete, with the parking charge notice

Mrs Paragreen received the parking charge notice on 9 December and was told it would be reduced from £90 to £45 if paid within 14 days.

She wrote to Parkingeye with proof of her Costa receipt and a picture of the three-hour parking sign, but said her appeal was rejected.

Because she appealed, Parkingeye gave her another two weeks to pay the reduced amount as a goodwill gesture.

"I was angry when I got told that they had rejected the fine," Mrs Paragreen said. "They said it got rejected because of not enough evidence, but what more evidence could I give?

"It's like I've done something wrong when I haven't – and you can't prove you haven't done anything wrong."

The BBC understands some members of staff at Costa have also received tickets.

A car park outside a Costa drive-thru coffee shop with a large coffee beans logo on the site. A van and several cars are parked outside. It is dusk and the sky is orange and blue.
The Costa car park shares the same entrance as Lidl

Costa said it had now reduced its maximum parking stay from three hours to 90 minutes, in order to align with Lidl's and to prevent any further issues.

In a statement, a Costa spokesperson said: "The issue has arisen due to ANPR cameras installed by a neighbouring business at their car park.

"This has caused confusion between their car park and ours, as their parking time restrictions are shorter."

Charges received by Costa customers had been rescinded or refunded, the spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Parkingeye said: "Our systems show that the motorist's vehicle did not enter the Costa car park and additional manual checks have since been carried out to ensure accuracy."

About 490 motorists "successfully used the Costa car park" on 4 December, which was "above the normal usage levels".

Motorists could appeal through a process audited by the British Parking Association and anyone with "mitigating circumstances" was encouraged to "highlight this", the spokesperson said.

"The motorist's appeal was rejected due to not providing evidence or reasons for breaking the rules of the car park," they added.

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