Thanks for a quick reply. I feel much more reassured after reading this, thanks! It annoys me so much that companies can get away with operating like this. Had I not found this site, I'd have paid up long ago - like a mug. Feel sorry for all those people that give in to these bullies, many of them poor, vulnerable, or just ill-informed.

Hi all, this is the first time I'm posting here. I'd stopped my car on private land (not local authority) on double yellow lines. I didn't accept the double yellow lines because I presumed these only meant something on public roads (is this true?). Within the 3 minutes or so I was away from the car I found that I'd got a ticket from the car parking partnership. I appealed using their website saying that I was picking up a passenger. They refused to accept this stating that parking outside of marked bays is not allowed - there's a sign board stating this. Strangely, parking within marked bays (even though they are private paid-for bays) is allowed for 20 mins. So it's ok to inconvenience someone else who pays for their bay but it's not ok to stop you're car in a space that doesn't inconvenience anyone at all (go figure!). Anyways, after apealing (and getting rejected) I did some research and stumbled on this site, amongst others. The general advice I read was that it's a private company and has no right to enforce anything under civil law. Any legal dispute would be under contract law. This all made sense to me so I followed the advice and ignored the 2 subsequent letters I recieved - each one threatening possible legal action etc. I've now received a green letter from what appears to be a legal firm representing car parking partnership. I'd like to think this letter has no more legal weighting than anything else from these people but I'm not sure. In honesty, I'm a little nervous of where this could lead. Part of me worries about debt collectors turning up at my front door and threatening my wife and kids. Worse, we've all seen cases of ill-informed coppers often siding with these pushy, and often illegal, actions. What I was hoping was for someone to have a look at the letter I've received and give me their opinion on it. I'd like to send them an "I'd like to settle the issue without it going to court subject to reasonable costs suffered" type of notice, something I've seen recommended in places. Should I attempt to do this or wait untill they actually take legal proceedings? Thanks, in advance, for your help Image-edit.pdf