Sunday parking confusion: Motorist hit with £100 fine at Falkirk car park after believing statement on website

Now the motorist from Livingston, who does not want to be named, believes the misleading information on the Callendar Shopping centre website regarding the Callendar Square car park, just off Kerse Lane, may be a deliberate ploy to coin in cash.

She said: “I was coming to Falkirk to have lunch with pals on Sunday, July 2. I looked on the website and it said parking on Sunday was free. There was no signage there to tell me otherwise so I parked there on the Sunday.

"The place actually looked derelict and I was a wee bit worried about leaving my car there. I was away for just over two hours and then came back and drove home. Then a week later I got a letter from Parkingeye saying I had to pay a £100 fine.”

The Falkirk Herald logged onto the Callendar Square car park website and found it did indicate – in capital letters – people could park for free on Sundays.

It stated: “At Callendar Square, we have a multi-storey car park for our customers.The car park is available at a competitive rate, with FREE CAR PARKING ON SUNDAYS and is situated just next to the shopping centre."

The motorist appealed the fine, stating her case about the website claiming it was free to park on Sundays, but Parkingeye rejected the appeal.

She asked why the website had not been updated and was told there were some technical issues.

"I don’t know if they are deliberately trying to catch people out with this,” she said. “I would be interested to see how much money they are making out of people.”

Blythe-based Parkingeye Ltd has not yet responded to The Falkirk Herald request for comment on the matter.

The Callendar Square car park featured in The Falkirk Herald in April this year when a group of mourners who parked there vehicles there to attend a funeral were each fined £100 fines a few days later.

The seven £100 parking fines issued by Parkingeye caused anger among the mourners who stated the signage was not clear about parking charges and guidelines at Falkirk’s Callendar Square car park, just off Kerse Lane.

At the time Parkingeye stated there were more than enough signs at the site giving motorists parking guidelines – claiming there were over 100 “prominent and highly-visible” signs providing information on how to use the car park responsibly.

Back in April Bosses of the nearby Callendar Square shopping centre were quick to defend Parkingeye, posting online the car park was managed by a “reputable company” and there were moves to improve the signage."

The post, from Callender Square Shopping & Leisure Centre, stated: “We have tried to make it easier for customers by introducing the option to pay online and by

telephone. Also, I would stress that the parking charges have been kept low and prices have been maintained for a number of years.”