Worksop: Priory Centre parking angers loyal town shoppers

Angry residents have complained at the lack of warning signs in the car park and some drivers have been issued with tickets demanding they pay up to £100.

Gilleen Wagstaffe, of Carlton Road, said: “There are no signs that say you can not wait for people in the car park.”

“My son was waiting for his girlfriend and he got there a bit early and she was a bit late and he ended up getting a ticket for £60.”

“I do not think it is right, they are catching people out. I will no longer shop in the town.”

ParkingEye is the car park monitoring system and has been since February. It uses automatic number plate recognition to record number plates of all vehicles entering and leaving the car park.

Sheila Massey, of Windsor Road, Carlton-in-Lindrick, was fined an eye-watering £100 for just 16 minutes in the car park after two machines were out of operation.

“There was no attendant in sight so I returned to the car and left my husband with the money in case an attendant did turn up. I then received a Notice of Parking for £100.”

The apparent injustice of shoppers caused Bassetlaw MP John Mann to meet with the management of the car park.

He said: “They agreed that if there are mitigating circumstances customers will be able to contact an on-site attendant to sort out the issue. It was also agreed that they would put the number of the attendant on all of their machines.”

“It is a private shopping centre and a private car park on privately-owned land and is not run by the council. My advice is to take up issues with the attendant and complain to the shops in the centre.”

A spokesperson for the Priory Shopping Centre said: “We completely understand the frustration. However, I am assured of the accuracy and efficiency of the ParkingEye system.”

“Our parking policy has not changed, only the way it is monitored. Parking prices have not increased and the Priory remains the lowest priced car park in Worksop.”