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Hello,
I received a Civil Parking Charge Notice from Athena ANPR Ltd for exceeding free parking duration at Lidl Shirley in Southampton.
Allowed duration of stay: 10 mins. Actual duration of stay: 35 mins. They want me to pay £45 within 14 days or £90 afterwards.
I don't shop at Lidl. I only park there because I do my shopping at the polish store next to/opposite Lidl. I was shopping there and using the same car park weekly for over a year now. I wasn't aware of the camera system and rules at this car park. I think I looked at the signs and I assumed that it's for customers of polish shop as well. There is no fence dividing car park from polish shop. If you look at the sign, it says in big red capital letters: "CUSTOMER PARKING ONLY" and underneath smaller letters: "MAXIMUM STAY OF 90 MINUTES". So after seeing a first bit of the sign I was actually reassured that I'm ok to park there as a polish shop customer. Only when I received a charge notice I went back and looked properly. It says: "Lidl Customers - up to 90 mins - no charge" but it is in much smaller letters! Also the signs are only on the actual car park, not at the gate/entrance to the car park. So there is no information about restrictions when you entering. The pictures they attached to the charge notice were taken on the gate. I would never park there if I knew their rules, restrictions and consequences!
I would probably go to Lidl for shopping and then to polish shop to make sure I'm covered.
Do you think I have any chance of winning this?
I'll try to attach some pictures if needed.
Thank you for help.
Regards
Magic
I received a Civil Parking Charge Notice from Athena ANPR Ltd for exceeding free parking duration at Lidl Shirley in Southampton.
Allowed duration of stay: 10 mins. Actual duration of stay: 35 mins. They want me to pay £45 within 14 days or £90 afterwards.
I don't shop at Lidl. I only park there because I do my shopping at the polish store next to/opposite Lidl. I was shopping there and using the same car park weekly for over a year now. I wasn't aware of the camera system and rules at this car park. I think I looked at the signs and I assumed that it's for customers of polish shop as well. There is no fence dividing car park from polish shop. If you look at the sign, it says in big red capital letters: "CUSTOMER PARKING ONLY" and underneath smaller letters: "MAXIMUM STAY OF 90 MINUTES". So after seeing a first bit of the sign I was actually reassured that I'm ok to park there as a polish shop customer. Only when I received a charge notice I went back and looked properly. It says: "Lidl Customers - up to 90 mins - no charge" but it is in much smaller letters! Also the signs are only on the actual car park, not at the gate/entrance to the car park. So there is no information about restrictions when you entering. The pictures they attached to the charge notice were taken on the gate. I would never park there if I knew their rules, restrictions and consequences!
I would probably go to Lidl for shopping and then to polish shop to make sure I'm covered.
Do you think I have any chance of winning this?
I'll try to attach some pictures if needed.
Thank you for help.
Regards
Magic
which says :"Controlled parking area. Terms and conditions apply. See notices in car park for details."
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