Driver warns of 'trap' after £100 fine for 12 minutes in Sheffield car park

​​​​​Jean Hopkin spent 12 minutes trying to work a ticket machine in a car park on Matilda Street before giving up and leaving, she says.

But cameras at the unmanned Euro Car Parks site on Matilda Street issued a £100 fine for parking without paying.

The firm rejected her appeal 'without explanation' she says. So she coughed up a reduced amount of £60 because she ‘feared it escalating’.

The company did not respond to requests to explain what Jean should have done to avoid a fine - or prove the machine was not broken on the day.

Jean now says she will not use Euro Car Parks and has warned readers to ‘beware’.

NEWS: Bitter memories of Sheffield City Airport

She said: “Whilst looking for a place to park near the Showroom, I drove into a Euro Car Parks on Matilda Street. Little did I realise the trap I had fallen into.

“I and my friend went to the ticket machine to pay, but, try as we might, we couldn't get the machine to accept our payment. Whether or not it was out of order was not clear. After several minutes, struggling to pay, we had to give up.”

She added: “After a few days, I received a penalty notice in the post, a fine of £100 for having parked in Matilda Street car park for 12 minutes.

“I appealed, explaining the machine would not accept our payment. The appeal was rejected; no explanation. Needless to say, I won't go near a Euro Car Parks in future; rather an expensive 12 minutes.

“So beware, Euro Car Parks will take your money without providing the service.”

The Star contacted the London-based firm owned by Barry Tucker several times. An automated email warned it could take 28 days to respond.

Eventually a message stated: “Euro Car Parks offer a space management system, and therefore it is imperative that the terms and conditions are adhered to at all times. As the parking charge notice has been paid the ticket is now closed.”

Councillor Joe Otten, chair of the waste and street scene policy committee at Sheffield City Council, says there is ‘frustratingly little the council can do’ because they had no influence on private parking operators.

He said: “Each private operator has to display their terms and conditions, along with the enforcement company’s name in the car parks. If this has been done there is frustratingly little the council can do.”

NEWS: Little London Road: Cut bollards and barriers thrown in river

In February, a Sheffield nurse told how she had been fined by a private parking company at the Longley Centre, without realising her permit was not valid there.

She said she was fined and struggled to appeal, later receiving a solicitors letter and being told the fine had risen to £170.

Deepa Shetty represented her partner in court after he was hit with a £100 charge for parking at the Berkeley Centre on Ecclesall Road in 2019.

The firm which runs the car park later increased the charge to £185 due to ‘late payment’, and threatened to pursue the claim in court if they did not pay.

Dr Shetty got the case thrown out in court. She felt at the time the appeals process was ‘a joke’.

To continue holding the powerful to account and giving people a voice, The Star needs you to subscribe, please