A few years ago my local town centre car park was covered in snow and the bay markings were covered.

People parked in an orderly manner but when the snow melted most people found they had been ticketed because they were not parked in marked bays, fortunately I was not one of them.

However last week I found out that the car park is actually private land but the District Councils civil enforcement officer patrols it and issues tickets.

My question is what status do the tickets have, private parking charges or council issued fines?

Hello there.

We don't normally answer hypothetical questions on the private parking forum.

Has anyone been issued with a ticket please?

HB

I would say that if the parking company really thinks that it is going to enforce the parking bay markings, and it has a contractual responsibility to clear the entire car park of snow so that they are visible.

I think what we are hearing here is a scandal that all sorts of perfectly reasonable and ordinary people are doing their best to use the car park correctly and in an orderly way – and no doubt are paying the required fee for parking – and yet receive a ticket because the parking bays were not clearly marked.

Which parking company is this? Do you know anyone at all who has been affected? I think this is the kind of thing that I would be contacting the local newspaper about because I'm sure that somebody would be interested in running a story and that they would then be contacted by drivers who had been affected.

I would recommend in the strongest terms that anyone in this situation who has received a ticket should stand up to it and defend it – with a very high chance of success, in my view.

These private parking companies are parasitic and in the circumstances that you describe, they are clearly attempting to suck their pint of blood and drink it.

As I said in my post

this actually happened a couple of years ago and quite a bit of fuss was made at the time.

I don't know what the outcome was as I was not personally affected.

What I was asking is if a ticket was issued would it be a parking charge I. E a private ticket or a parking fine?

The car park is privately owned but patrolled and ticketed by a council employed warden.

This is a real situation not hypothetical.

Which car park is this?

Is it in Farnham?

I know that the private co bloke that wanders around the Maltings car park also works for the council and you will find that the private parking tickets look identical to the official ones and are in the same plastic envelope but the payment details are different.

I have reported to the council who say " nowt to do with us guv" so you will have to fight each and every ticket.

This one is in Coalville, Leicestershire.

The warden that patrols and issues tickets is the genuine council civil enforcement officer.

There are two car parks side by side separated by a grass bank.

One is council owned land and therefore the CEO is entitled to issue fines

but the other is owned by the company that own the shopping mall

so I wouldn't have though that the CEO had any power to issue fines.

I do know the difference between fines and charges.

The CEO is just a trespasser and any tickets issued should be cancelled immediately.

It could give rise to interesting Data Protection issues if the council dont take immediate steps to ensure their bod knows where his feet are.

Sorry for the delay in replying.

That's what I was thinking ericsbrother and am now putting this to the Council.

Thanks for the comments.

and?

What does the Signage at the entrance and within the Car Park say?

I would contact both the Company that owns the shopping centre and the Local Authority for clarification.

Contact the Company that owns the shopping centre to confirm they are the Landowner of that specific Car Park and if they have given the Local Authority permission for there Civil Enforcement Officer to Patrol and issue Parking Tickets in there Car Park.

Contact the Local Authority and ask them what agreement/permission is in place for there Civil Enforcement Officers to Patrol and issue Parking Tickets in that specific Car Park.

Hi,

I have raised this before but cannot find the thread but in any case I want to take the matter further.

My local council issue parking fines on land owned by a private company. They have also installed ticket machines on the private land.

I would like to know what information I should request from the council to establish whether they have the legal right to issue these fines on private land.

It would not surprise me if they didn't have the right as they are well known for making up their own rules as suits them.

Thank you in advance.

Which LA is this?

Where is the private land?

Have you taken any photographs/evidence?

threads merged for history

to find your thread

simply click your username

Ah ha! Cheers DX!

This one mentions several Coalville carparks:

VT33

This one mentions several Coalville carparks:

 

VT33

It's the last one on page one of schedule 1. Belvoir Shopping Centre/Market Hall Carpark (part)....not sure what 'part' means.

Thanks for finding the original thread.

someone needs to look up the land on the council's map of what they own and then whack in a complaint to the council director of amenities of whatever dept is in charge and ask them who owns the adjacent land and then when you have that answer ask why they are trying to enfoce an order that doesnt apply.

You then take it to the local govt ombudsman if they dont correct their error. You should also send copies of your correspondence to the landowner as the owner of the land might not like someoe trying to appropriate their land and the rights that go with it.

I would lay bets that an error has been made on the drawings and someone is too arrogant to admit a mistake has been amde and will just let things run rather than look stupid by having to correct it and possibly pay back monies to motorists who have been trapped into paying up

Councils can enforce private car parks, mine does the local Waitrose and Morrisons car parks who owns the land has little to do with it.

Councils can enforce private car parks, mine does the local Waitrose and Morrisons car parks who owns the land has little to do with it.

Surely that would mean they're public then?

Bromsgrove District Council enforces the local Morrisons car park too, which makes it public, not private.

Councils can enforce on private land as long as they have the ageement of the land owner, as in the above examples

The car parks are "public", but the land is still privately owned.

the council can enforce on land that "has been appropriated by them" so they will have to prove this. I cant see that Morrisons has given away the rights to that land lightly becasue they would also give the council the right to slap a bus staion or similar on it so again checking the permission would be a must.

The OP's case refers to part of land and that scenario has cropped up many times before where somewhere like a market square is not a single plot of land and subject to different conditions that the council parking wardens dont seem to know about so I would always say that it shoudl be challenged and the council provide the evidence they do have the right to enforce rather than take their word for it.

there is another way the council can enforce on land adjacent to a public highway and that is via the decision of Dawood but that relies on both proximity and delineation. However, that doesnt apply to somewhere that isnt a highway so 2 adjacent car parks wouldnt have the same rights to enforce as would parking next to a road behind a building in a town centre for example