Drivers face £100 fines due to little-known '72 second' rule

A couple have been slapped with a £100 fine for overstaying 72 seconds despite not parking. Steve Cottrell, 63, an NHS nurse from Ruthin, North Wales, and his partner Joy, 56, were hit during a stay at the Old Town (West) Car Park in Weymouth.

Steve said the contact payment system was broken so he decided to drive back out and look for another spot. When the couple returned home from their holiday, they received a £100 fine from Parkingeye, the company managing the car park.

The company claims the charge was issued because Steve had exceeded the “five-minute grace period” by one minute and 12 seconds. “If there is a five-minute grace period, then I went over by a minute, so I’m being charged £100 for a minute,” Steve said.

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“We didn’t even stop there – well, we stopped the car but we didn’t park there. I don’t know whether I am cutting my nose off to spite my face, but I just don’t want to pay the money. It feels like I’ve been mugged. I think five minutes is unreasonable because by the time you’ve pulled up, got out of the car, made your way over to the ticket machine and read the signs, your time is up and you’ll be fined.”

A Parkingeye spokesperson said: “The car park at Old Town West in Weymouth is monitored by ANPR camera systems and has 17 prominent and highly visible signs that give motorists clear guidance on how to use the car park responsibly. Motorists are advised that tariffs apply 24/7 and that they have the option to pay by the machine on site or by the evology payment app.

“The motorist parked in the car park for six minutes without paying, this exceeded the five-minute consideration period and therefore led to a parking charge being issued. We would add that our systems show that the machines and the app took normal levels of transactions throughout the day.

“Parkingeye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their parking charge. The motorist did not provide any mitigating circumstances for failing to adhere to the terms and conditions of the car park and their appeal was rejected.

“The charge was also upheld by Popla, the independent appeals service. Despite this, we will cancel the charge as a gesture of goodwill. We would strongly urge all motorists to pay the appropriate tariff if they exceed the five-minute consideration period, which was introduced as part of the British Parking Association and International Parking Community joint code of practice.”