Airport meet-and-greet parking firm fined after tracker revealed car was left on residential street

A “cowboy” meet-and-greet parking firm operating at Manchester Airport has been fined after a council sting found it took a customer’s car and left it in a residential street.

PPS Manchester’s website claims it collects vehicles from holidaymakers and keeps them in a secure lot, surrounded by fence and patrolled by 24-hour security.

But when undercover trading standards left a car in the company’s care for three days, a tracking device revealed it was parked in a road in nearby Wythenshawe for the full duration.

The case, at Manchester Magistrates Court, came just days after a newspaper investigation found meet-and-greet drivers at two other companies – in Manchester and London – had been caught stealing money, driving at double the speed limit and using mobile phones behind the wheel.

In this week’s case, PPS was ordered to pay £2,100 after being found guilty of engaging in a misleading action. Director Nabeel Khoury, 45, was also fined £1,467.

“Cowboy meet and greet firms are making life a misery for residents in Wythenshawe and I’m pleased that the courts have found it appropriate to impose a significant fine on this so-called company,” said Rabnawaz Akbar, Manchester City Council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods.

“I hope this sends a clear message to other illegal operators that deceiving customers will not be tolerated. We are doing everything we can to find you, investigate you and where possible, we will prosecute."

Under interview Mr Khoury said he believed the car was secure because it was actually parked outside his own home address in the neighbourhood's Greenwood Road.

He said his website's claims referred to a previous period when the business was based at another location. He also told officers that if the vehicle had been left for longer than three days it would have been moved to one of three secure car parks that he had exclusive use of.

In a separate investigation a worker at Manchester Airport Parking Service Ltd was accused of speeding and taking money, while one driver at Purple Parking, which works out of Heathrow, allegedly took cash from an armrest compartment.

Both companies said they were looking into the incidents after they were revealed by The Daily Telegraph.