Upset after parking fine given to volunteer collecting food parcel in Wigan

The kind-hearted woman did not realise she had used a pay-and-display car park in Wigan town centre and was shocked to receive a parking charge notice two weeks later.

She sent a letter of appeal, explaining she used Bryan House car park, on Church Street, to pick up the food package prepared by The Brick from nearby St George’s Church.

And despite her request for it to be cancelled as a gesture of goodwill, Excel Parking Services Ltd refused to rescind the charge.

Christine Lawler, chairman of Hindley and Hindley Green Community Action Group, said: “I don’t understand why they don’t see she was doing a really good thing and they are taking money from people helping others in the community.”

The volunteer, who does not want to be identified, went to collect the food parcel from The Brick on November 26.

Mrs Lawler said: “The volunteer had never been there before and doesn’t really know Wigan that well. I gave her directions as to where it was and she put her sat-nav on. She was a bit early. It’s double yellow lines along the front, so she pulled into the Bryan House car park and parked there for 10 minutes. Then she walked across the road to go to collect from the church. She went back and drove off.”

Two weeks later she received a parking charge notice, saying she would have to pay a £100 fine as she had been there for 25 minutes and had not bought an 80p ticket to park.

Mrs Lawler said: “She was a volunteer doing something for us on that occasion, and she has never claimed any expenses for fuel or anything while she has volunteered since the beginning of lockdown. I said she shouldn’t pay it - I wouldn’t expect it to be paid personally - and it was something the group would pick up, because she was working for us at the time and it was a genuine mistake.

“We made an appeal to the parking company by email. I wrote a letter explaining what she was doing, why she was there etc and asked, given the circumstances, as a gesture of goodwill would they be willing to write it off, in a sense, and cancel the charge.

“I thought because of Covid and she was going to a food bank, they might let her off. They were only out 80p and £100 goes a long way when you are supplying emergency food to people.”

But they were shocked to receive a response from Excel saying the appeal had been rejected.

The £100 fine will be reduced to £60 if it is paid by January 14. While they can appeal again, an extra £60 must be paid if they fail.

Mrs Lawler says she hopes to appeal to the land owner to now rescind the charge, but admits she may have to pay up.

She said: “One very kind lady, a member of our community, has given us £100 to pay the fine. People have also said they will put £1 each in to pay towards it.

“We have said if we don’t end up paying it or pay a reduced amount, we would refund the money back to her, but she says whatever happens, we should keep the money and donate it to the fund we have to support people in crisis. I thought that was amazing.

“We are in a position to pay it, but we are doing our utmost not to do that. We could do a lot with that money.”

A representative for Excel Parking Services Ltd said: "The Bryan House car park is operated as a public car park and is managed by ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) cameras which work in conjunction with the two on-site pay-and-display machines. There is prominent signage displayed throughout the car park, clearly stating that it is a 'pay and display' car park, including the large entrance sign that is included in the published article. Motorists have 10 minutes in which to purchase a valid purchase of the requisite parking tariff and this term is specified on the signage and can be seen in the sign published in the article.

"The vehicle in question entered the car park at 10:50 and exited at 11:15 - a total of 25 minutes; this is significantly more than the 10 minutes stated in the article.

"We are satisfied that the parking charge notice was issued correctly and whilst we have declined the appeal, the motorist has the option to appeal to the Independent Appeals Service."

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