Luton driver hit with £100 parking fine after stopping to ask for directions
A man from Luton says his wife was slapped with a £100 parking fine after she stopped to ask for directions while taking her mum to a cataract appointment.
Simon Cordell’s wife, Helen, had been taking her 84-year-old mum, Linda, to SpaMedica, in Capability Green, for eye surgery in May.
He says Helen briefly stopped to ask someone for directions before parking in the clinic’s dedicated spots.
But days later, the couple were sent a fine from Euro Parking Services.
Simon, a former police officer, said: “This is probably happening every day on Capability Green and elsewhere. This is a problem.”
And he claims the appeals process has failed because the mitigating circumstances were ignored.
Now, because the couple refused to pay up, the fine has been almost doubled – from £60 to £100.
Simon said: “They won’t entertain any further discussion on it.”
The Luton News approached Euro Parking Services, which deals with parking across the site – but the company said it was unable to comment on individual cases.
But Simon added: “Because I’ve got a police background, I’m not intimidated by these sorts of things.”
He is now calling for more to be done to make the system fairer, as he fears vulnerable people are paying fines unnecessarily.
Simon said: “We’ve tried not to tell Helen’s mum too much about it because this has all come about from trying to do a good deed for your elderly parents.
“She wanted to pay it for us, and we said, ‘No, Linda.’”