Meadowhall staff threatened with court action over parking tickets from THREE YEARS ago

Workers past and present at the Sheffield shopping centre have told how they received letters out of the blue demanding £150 each – with one employee getting 20 such letters and facing a combined bill of £3,000.

The letters, shared with The Star, were sent by the debt recovery firm DCBL on behalf of the parking firm CP Plus.

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"You now have 14 days from the date of this letter to either pay the outstanding amount or call us to discuss repayment,” the letters state.

"Failure to do so will result in us recommending to our client the commencement of legal action against you.”

But Meadowhall says the letters were sent in error and has apologised for any alarm caused.

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A spokeswoman for the shopping centre said: “These letters were sent in error by our former car parking management company, CP Plus. We have been assured by them that their mistake will be rectified as quickly as possible, and they will be contacting everyone who received a letter to confirm that no payment is required.

“We are sorry for the concern and confusion this has caused our customers and colleagues.”

CP Plus, which is part of GroupNexus, has not responded to The Star’s enquiry.

One worker, who asked to remain anonymous, told how she had received 17 such letters, while one former colleague had been sent 20 and many others had also been issued with the demands.

She said she was aware of fines being issued in 2017 for using the customer car park but they were disputed at the time by many staff, who said they felt unsafe using the spaces reserved for employees, especially after dark, and she had heard nothing since then.

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"Retail workers are some of the poorest paid workers in the country so to receive threatening letters like these demanding so much money out of the blue is very scary,” she added.

“In the midst of a global pandemic and looming economic crisis I feel this treatment is disgusting.”

Another former employee, who also wished to remain anonymous, said: “I understand that as a business they can do this but we’re in the middle of a pandemic and there are a lot of people going through great financial difficulty for whom something like this only adds to the stress they’re experiencing.”

Complaints over the dedicated staff car park at Meadowhall have rumbled on for years, with many employees claiming they feel unsafe walking from their cars to their workplace because it is poorly maintained and there is inadequate lighting.

Only last month, a petition was launched by staff asking for them to be allowed to park closer to their workplace.

But Meadowhall has in the past defended the state of the free staff parking it provides and insisted customer spaces must be reserved for shoppers.