Stratford Park and Ride problems -
evidence re £200 fine for being prevented from buying a weeks season ticket

Background:

This relates to the following: Stratford Park and Ride weekly season ticket parking. Car reg.: LM58 VWD PCN nos.: ZQ08920057 from 27/3/2023 at 11:26am. (discovered from Notice to Owner of 27/4/23). ZQ09414421 from 29/3/2023 at 8:52am. ZQ08711760 from 30/3/2023 at 9:41am. ZQ0960658A from 31/3/2023 at 10:16am.

I parked at the Stratford On Avon Park and Ride on Monday 27th. March at around 10am.

I needed a single weekly season ticket (shown on the Council website and on the parking meters as costing £11.50) in order to leave the car until the following Friday.

I believe that I have tried every possible way in which I could pay for the offered ticket and that I have been prevented because of no fault of my own.
I have always been quite happy to pay for the ticket and the following will explain what has happened to prevent this and the sequence of events.

Monday 27th. March

On arrival at the car park at around 10:00am., I asked at the office and was told that they could not provide tickets and that I would need to use one of the Season-Ticket-Only machines.

I walked down the car park and found two such machines, both out of order (see images 1 to 3 for the first machine and 4 to 6 for the second).

The other machines had a sign saying they could not be used for season tickets (see image 7).

The two evidence photographs of a ticket machine and its environs show one of the non-season-ticket machines which would have been of no use in obtaining the required weekly season ticket.

The notices on the machines stated that a season ticket could be obtained via the RingGo service. I did not have the facility on my mobile phone to download their app so I tried to use their telephone option.

10:20am.(RingGo on 020 3046 0060) Through this I managed to enter the details of my car, etc. and was asked what period I needed a ticket for. I chose "weeks" and was asked how many weeks I needed covering. I chose one week and was told by the system that the maximum number of weeks allowed was zero.

One of the support staff came past and suggested that I telephone the Warwickshire Council Helpline.

10:30am. (0333 003 0033) I tried this and found there were no options available to help with such parking problems and so got put through to a lady in the Parking Permits section who said that she could not help but that I should send an eMail to Warwickshireparking@nslservices.co.uk

At this point there was nothing else I could do at the site and so I left a note inside the car windscreen stating "WEEKS TICKET WANTED. MACHINES DEAD. RING & GO DEAD. APPLYING VIA EMAIL.".

I got a lift back to the cottage where I am staying and where I could access the internet.

11:29am. - I sent NSL Services an eMail asking how I could pay for my parking.

12:10pm. approx. - I tried downloading the RingGo app but was told there was a "server error" when trying to log in. I then tried registering on the RingGo website and received a message saying there was an "anomaly" which was being reported.

12:15pm. - I received a welcome message from RingGo saying that my account had been set up.

1:44pm. - NSL Services replied to my eMail saying that the only methods of payment were the machines and the RingGo app.

6:43pm. - I received an eMail answer from RingGo saying that my question was given a reference number (654861) and asking for my mobile number, my car registration number and make (again).

7:54pm. - I told RingGo my details via eMail.

Wednesday 29th. March.

12:02pm. - RinGo sent me an eMail stating that they could not do anything at that stage and that the machines were the responsibility of the Car Park Operator. They gave me the eMail address to contact as civilenforcement@warwickshire.gov.uk

1:32pm. - I sent a query off to the above asking how I could pay for my parking.

1:32pm. - I received an automated reply.

1:48pm. - I received a reply from a Peter R saying that I would be able to appeal against any PCN once I received it.

3:10pm. - Managed to get a lift over to the Park and Ride and took the above-listed photos of the two Season-ticket machines which were still out of action. Found the PCN (ZQ09414421) attached to my car. Noted the number and left it there thinking that it would have sufficed until the week was up.

Friday 31st. March.

Around 6pm. - Went to collect my car and found two more (soaking wet) PCNs (ZQ08711760 from 30th. and ZQ0960658A from 31st.) stuck on my car. Since it was pouring down with rain, I did not again walk the length of the facility to see if the ticket machines were finally working.

Saturday 29th. April.

Received a Notice To Owner letter re the first ticket. This was the first I'd heard or seen of the ticket, there being no sign of it on my car.

Warwickshire County Council's response.

I have received three letters from Warwickshire County Council replying to my explanations which state that the parking machines were working. However the evidential photographs of working machines were not of the "season ticket only" machines which my photographs show as being still out of action on the 29th.

The reasoning that I should have paid for Daily tickets implies that the offered Weekly ticket was not available - which was not stated. I would also been required to travel to the car park at the beginning of each day somehow in order to find out when the machines were repaired, not that they were over the whole week.

I have already explained that the third point that I did not go ahead with the RingGo option was because their system said that the maximum number of weeks was Zero.
And yes, other users may have purchased tickets - from the working non-season-ticket machines.

With reference to PCN no. ZQ08920057, the first I knew of this was from the Notice To Owner date 27/4/23, there being no such PCN attached to my car when I checked it on the 29th. Therefore the option of a 50% discount was not made available to me.

Finally, I believe there was only one offence of not having a weekly season ticket and that four separate fines is unjust.