Grandad speaks out after Leeds car park u-turn over £160 fine in 'scam website' row

A grandad says he has had a £160 parking fine quashed after he says he was scammed when making an online payment.

Ronnie Hayman, 73, from Bury, was visiting an ill family member at St James’ Hospital. He parked at nearby Beckett Street car park on June 6 at 1.21pm, and followed signage in the car park instructing him to pay via website Tap2Park. He then paid £6 for two hours.

He claims the website was hacked and his money went to an account called 'Mr Muscle' instead. One month later, car park owners I Park Services sent him a letter demanding he pay a £100 fine.

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The grandad-of-seven told I Park Services about the problem and sent proof of payment. But the fine was increased to £160 the following month, and he later received a letter from a bailiff company.

Now, Ronnie says I Park Services have quashed the fine. He said: "Ronnie said: "It's a good win. I think it was all down to the publicity that you [Leeds Live] provided. I sent them a copy of your article and to the bailiff as well, and it did the trick.

"It was just annoying having to go through all that stress and aggravation when it wasn't my fault. If they had any common sense, they would have realised everything was genuine when I sent them a copy of the bank proof of payment.

"As you get older and you're not working as long hours then things bug you. This bugged me and I had the time to do something about it. If it had been 20 years ago, I'd have probably done nothing about it and paid the fine."

Ronnie said the bailiffs contacted Ronnie to let him know I Park Services were dropping the case against him and he should expect no further communication in relation to the matter.

The car park payment website Tap2Park previously said they were targeted by fraudsters earlier this year who were running a fake website using their logo. The website said all they provide is an online platform as a payment provider, and have nothing to do with the running of the car park.

A spokesperson for the Tap2Park said: “Earlier this year, we were alerted to the existence of an unauthorised website, accessible through a Google search, which misappropriated our logo and falsely represented our service.

“This fraudulent site directs individuals to an illegitimate payment platform. Upon discovering this, we promptly reported the matter to Action Fraud and submitted a takedown request to Google to address the issue.

"Unfortunately, to date, despite several follow-ups on our part, we have not received a response from either entity. As part of our ongoing efforts to resolve this, we are now preparing to escalate the matter by issuing a pre-action letter to protect our brand and safeguard users against this deceptive activity.”

I Park Services was approached for comment before the initial story was published.

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