Marianne Marshall was 50 miles away when her car was parked briefly on double red lines at the airport
A view of East Midlands Airport.(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
Parking for less than a minute on double red lines has left a woman with a £170 fine or facing court action if she does not pay – even though she herself was miles away from East Midlands Airport (EMA) at the time.
Marianne Marshall, who lives near Sleaford in Lincolnshire, had leant her car to family members and was 50 miles away at the time of the incident.
Nevertheless, Marianne is the one facing the fine it was first issued to her on October 23 last year and, at that stage, the CCTV suggested the car had only been there for just 14 seconds, and even that was enough for VCS Parking Enforcement to demand a £100 fine.
What she calls a ‘ridiculous’ appeals process and a lack of ‘discretion’ from either the airport or the parking enforcement company concerned means matters have escalated to the point where the 42-year-old mum faces a £170 fine.
The airport has stuck by the actions of the third-party parking enforcer, saying the area where the woman’s car stopped “must be kept clear at all times for safety and operational reasons”.
Marianne said different family members were driving the car at different times and one of their stops was to pick somebody up from the airport.
The family were planning to use East Midlands Airport’s rapid drop off area outside the terminal building, where the maximum stay is 30 minutes.
Given the restriction on timings, Marianne understands her family had briefly stopped the car to make sure the person they were picking up was ready.
They did so on a road just outside a short stay car park that had double red lines on it, but they were only there for 58 seconds, nobody got out of the car and they promptly went to the rapid drop off zone, paying the £5 charge afterwards.
The parking company has been contacted for comment but has not responded.
The fine would have been reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days but, at that stage, Marianne did not even know which one of her family members had been driving at the time and they themselves could not remember, she said.
She therefore submitted an initial appeal stating that she had been at her daughter’s dance exam in Lincoln at the time of the offence and that she was therefore not the one to pay the fine.
Marianne says the initial appeal was rejected because the parking company deemed there was not enough evidence to show she was not at East Midlands Airport.
To try and help matters, she asked the separate parking company who manage East Midlands Airport’s rapid drop off zone if they could provide CCTV of her car, which would have more clearly shown who was at the wheel at the time.
The company reportedly declined to do so, saying it would have been a GDPR breach, and the fine facing Marianne in the meantime has now jumped to £170.
A bailiff company employed by VCS wrote a letter to Marianne on February 26, which also threatened court action if she did not pay.
Marianne said: “It just feels very disproportionate that somebody can stop on a side road and it ends up costing £170. You get less for speeding.
“I completely understand that areas need to be kept clear for emergency vehicles but, in this case, it was 58 seconds and absolutely nobody was harmed, so it feels like a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
“If somebody is on a road for such a short amount of time, how is that any kind of disruption?
“There should be some sort of discretion for things like this. Of course the parking company are going to give you a fine if they think they can make some money out of it, but, for the airport, I don’t think it is right.
“I don’t want to go to court, so I think I will have to pay the £170 and split it between those who were there on the day, but the whole thing just feels ridiculous.”
Ioan Reed-Aspley, the head of corporate affairs at East Midlands Airport, wrote in response to Marianne’s MP: “Red route parking enforcement at East Midlands Airport plays an important role in maintaining the safe and efficient flow of traffic around the terminal area.
“The roads immediately outside the terminal are among the busiest parts of the airport estate are are used continuously by buses, emergency vehicles, taxis, private cars and operational service vehicles.
“Stopping or waiting in these areas, even briefly, can quickly create congestion, obstruct sightlines and increase the risk of accidents.
“A no-stopping sign is clearly visible on the lamppost behind the vehicle. The location where the vehicle was stationary is also the entrance to one of the airport’s fuel storage areas and must be kept clear at all times for safety and operational reasons.”