Plymouth man fuming after getting £35 bill

A PLYMOUTH pensioner stung by a penalty notice for parking in a disabled-only car park has said there were no clear markings which showed it was for blue badge holders only.

Malcolm Bassett-Smith was fined £35 for parking in the council car park on Cornwall Street, adjacent to Marks and Spencers, earlier this month.

The authority has already rejected an appeal, telling him that public spaces ‘are – and have always been – for blue badge holders and motorcycles only’.

However, a photo taken by The Herald shows there is nothing on signage at the entrance to the car park saying it is for blue badge holders only – while photos taken by Mr Bassett-Smith show markings in the bays have almost entirely disappeared.

The council rejected Mr Bassett-Smith’s appeal, saying the markings are ‘correct and in line with regulations’.

But when contacted by The Herald, the authority has said they will shortly be ‘refreshing all the markings and updating the signage as part of that’.

Mr Bassett-Smith is now taking the authority to task over the issue, and is warning others not to fall into the same trap.

“It was not just one space, it’s a whole bank of them,” he said. “What makes it worse is that if every space is dedicated to disabled spaces, it should say that on the entry to the car park.

“Their response was that there was no legal requirement to do anything, even maintain the markings on the bays, which I think is actually wrong in law.

“I think under contract law there is an obligation to make any restrictions or conditions known to all parties prior to any form of contract being entered into.”

Mr Bassett-Smith, a retired Gunner who lives in Torpoint, said penalising drivers when restrictions were unclear would only put people off shopping in the city centre.

He said: “My take is that my philosophy is ‘use it or lose it’ – so I shop as close as possible to my locality as possible. My primary shopping location is Torpoint. When I can get what I need in Torpoint, I will go to Plymouth, or Liskeard and Saltash.

“But if I am going to be hit by a £35 bill for shopping in Plymouth then I am sorry but Amazon is going to get my business. And if that means that Plymouth shops are going to shut as a result then it is what it is – and it will have been brought on by the council.”

He also ridiculed the response from the council, which contained errors including how much he had paid.

He explained: “The response from the council says ‘Dear Sir or Madam’ as if they don’t know that Malcolm is a man’s name, and then notes that I paid the £25, which is wrong as I paid £35. So they have obviously got some old skeleton letter and just cut and pasted their response.”

He added: “It’s definitely a disincentive to shop in Plymouth, and we’re just going to see more and more empty shops in Plymouth as a result.

“People are going to head out to places like Derriford to do their shopping instead, where they can park without worrying they are going to be caught out.

“I am certainly of pensionable age, and instead of encouraging me and others within the realm of Plymouth to come in and use the facilities, we are being given a slap in the face.”

A Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “The public spaces in the Marks & Spencer car park are – and always have been – for blue badge holders and motorcycles only.

“If someone feels they have been issued a penalty charge notice unfairly or in error they can challenge it. Information on how do this is included with the notice.

“We are due to be making some changes soon to the perimeter loading bays in this car park shortly and will be refreshing all the markings and updating the signage as part of that.”

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