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Nick Smith MP at the Walk car park in Blaenau Gwent

In December 2011 X-Ray highlighted problems at The Walk car park in Ebbw Vale where dozens of people complained to us after receiving parking charge notices from Excel Parking Services Ltd.听

The town's MP Nick Smith received complaints from his constituents about the situation and agreed to look into the issue further.听 Nick met Councillors Mostyn Lewis and John Rogers from Blaenau Gwent CBC, who told him the council's received more than 90 complaints.听

John told Nick, 鈥淒isabled people have been treated disgracefully.鈥澨� While Nick was filming at the car park people approached him with more of their experiences of receiving parking charge notices they felt were unfair.听

The council's Head of Planning told Nick they're still in discussion with Excel because signs and cameras were installed without planning permission.听

Nick had concerns about the positioning of some signs, as well as the clarity and the amount of information drivers need to take in.听 Since X-Ray first looked into problems at The Walk, and Nick and the council started writing to the company, the landowners of The Walk have got involved.

There are some new signs at the car park, but many people feel the changes aren鈥檛 sufficient.

Nick wanted to know how many notices have been issued, and who's making the money.听 Excel wouldn鈥檛 release that information.

Though it does seem the company is making a substantial profit.听 According to company accounts, the director Simon Renshaw Smith paid himself a 拢100,000 bonus last year, on top of nearly 拢400,000 salary.

In last 6 years the DVLA has given Excel the details of 200,000 registered keepers of vehicles using their car parks. The DVLA say they have to provide this information to those with a valid reason to ask for it.

That includes parking companies although they claim there are strict controls on who鈥檚 eligible to get the data.听听 Excel abides by the British Parking Association鈥檚 Code of Practice.听

A code which was in part decided by Simon Renshaw Smith, the Managing Director of Excel, because he sits on the Approved Operators board of the BPA.听

In their letters, Excel say people could face court proceedings if they don't pay the parking charge notices.听 One person brave enough to go to court, rather than paying up was Martin Cutts from Stockport.

He won his case, but doesn鈥檛 think other people should have to face the experience.听 Martin told Nick, 鈥淚t's not just me, it's tens thousands of people.听 It's an extremely unpleasant business for people to go through; it causes a great deal of chaos and misery.鈥�

Martin鈥檚 experience shows that by going to court consumers can challenge parking companies, but in his case the judge was willing to visit the car park in question to appreciate his argument that he should not be bound by the terms on signs Excel had displayed because they were unclear.
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At the moment, people who feel they've had an unfair parking charge from a private company like Excel can only appeal to that firm. The British Parking Association won't get involved in individual cases.听 But there is another way appeals could be run and it's a model council owned car parks have to follow.听

An independent adjudicator, the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, decides whether appeals are justified.

Nick met Linda Sparks from Port Talbot who successfully appealed against her local council when they tried to charge her for not paying to park in a disabled space, despite the fact she'd displayed a valid blue badge.听

Linda said, 鈥淭he adjudicator accepted the point that I made that the signs were unclear in their wording.听 They said there were no concessions, when there clearly were some concessions.听

She accepted that the signs didn't have the blue badge logo on them in order that people would know it was relative to them.鈥�
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Nick feels that many of the people who鈥檝e come to him for help when faced with parking charge notices are very happy to pay to park.听 They feel they鈥檝e been caught out and unfairly treated.听

So Nick鈥檚 keen for more clarity for consumers when they are using car parks, 鈥淭hat way everybody is doing the right thing - people pay to park and the landowner gets money for people parking on their land.鈥�

Excel Parking Services insist that they've always acted properly, but clearly there are lots of people who aren't happy with the system as it stands.

The good news is that鈥檚 set to change later in the year, with a new appeals system overseen by the British Parking Association.听 Patrick Troy of the BPA explained how it will work, 鈥淚t will be very similar to the way that members of public who get parking tickets from local authorities are able to appeal now.听

听So in simple terms, if you get a parking ticket and you're not happy with it you will write to the person who's issued it to you, just as you would to the local authority, they will consider your case and either cancel your ticket or ask you to pay it.听 If they ask you to pay it then they will tell you to whom you can go to have your case independently considered.听

It's a free service, so your case is heard by the independent adjudicator, and their decision is final.听 It's so important that they鈥檙e independent so they can make that final decision.鈥�

That scheme should come into being in October.听 In the meantime, lots of X-Ray viewers have commented that people who receive parking charge notices should just rip up and ignore them.

听Christopher Rees, a barrister, gave us his opinion on the letters private parking companies send. He says, 鈥淚t's not a fine, it's a charge - which means Excel would have to take you to court if you didn't pay.

Most parking companies don't bother, but they could if they wanted to.听 So it鈥檚 up to the individual to decide whether they want to take that risk.鈥�

Until the new appeals scheme comes into force, Chris鈥檚 advice is that people who feel they鈥檝e received an unfair parking charge should keep any tickets or evidence they have as proof that they have not breached any parking conditions.

They should write to the company which has issued the notice, providing copies of the evidence and stating why they feel they were not bound by those conditions and do not feel they should pay the charge.

Then if the parking company does take the motorist to the small claims court, there鈥檚 proof that the driver tried to do the right thing.听

As in the case of Martin Cutts, the judge can find in favour of the motorist, although every case is different and the decisions of civil courts are not binding on future cases.