Motorist warns of Cornwall parking 'scam' after paying for ticket

A motorist is warning others about a parking "scam" after he was issued with a fine despite paying for a ticket. Stuart Flynn visited Harvey Towans Beach on December 15 last year with a group of friends

They all struggled to download the parking app Sippi, which is the only way you can pay at the Hayle beach as the machine does not accept cash. All three were furious and called the parking facility a total 'scam'. His friend, Mike Stewart, was issued with a penalty charge notice even though he managed to use the app and pay for his stay.

Mr Flynn, from Taunton, said the same thing happened to him and he too was issued with a £100 fine some 95 days after his visit to Cornwall. The 55-year-old office worker said the PCN made absolutely no sense as he had paid £3.90 for parking, and a 20p admin charge, which allowed him to stay for three hours as per the sign installed at Harvey Towans.

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However, despite staying for just over two hours and having a Sippi app payment receipt for it, he still received the 'fine'. Mr Flynn said that when he appealed the PCN, CPM dismissed his appeal outright and threatened him with legal action if he didn't pay up quickly.

He told CornwallLive: "It was a struggle to download the app due to poor mobile signal, my partner eventually managed to download and pay via the Sippi app. Now 95 days after parking I have been issued with a PCN for £100, saying I have not paid in full.

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"We paid £4.10 (£3.90 general parking plus £0.20 convenience fee) which is taken automatically via the app which we have no control over. I noticed from the signage at the time, this payment was for up to three hours of parking. According to the app we stayed for two hours and seven minutes.

"The PCN says we stayed for two hours and 33 minutes which is still inside the three hours parking for the tariff taken by the app. Therefore there is nothing further to pay and the car park and UK Car Parking Management have incurred no loss."

The letter Mr Flynn received said the reason for the PCN was for "failure to pay for parking". Mr Flynn said he appealed but was turned down straight away and has now received a final red notice dated May 10 stating that his case will be passed to a debt collector if he does not cough up £100.

He added: "I sent a further letter of appeal to the PO Box address on the PCN and received a letter May 23 advising their decision to reject my appeal is unchanged. The letter states any further correspondence from me will not be responded to and I should now pay £100 by June 6 and if I do not pay they will seek to recover monies via their debt recovery service.

"The full amount for parking has been paid on the day via their app, yet UK Car Park Management on behalf of Harvey Towans Car Park refuses to accept this and refuses to correspond further."

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He added: "I cannot see how this is right and these continuing letters of intimidation, when I have paid the full amount, are surely inappropriate. I do not understand how UK Car Park Management can request driver information from the DVLA when no illegal activity has taken place.

"Car Park Management is surely responsible for ensuring its own systems are calibrated correctly and any electronic payment and digital content is likely to work correctly in the area. I would not like this situation to happen to anyone else. I suspect many people have paid in full yet still receive a PCN and just pay to make the intimidation go away but why should they?

"Unfortunately I was unaware of the problems associated with this car park and its management when I parked."

Mr Flynn and his friend Mr Stewart are indeed not the only ones to have been caught out at Harvey Towans. Back in October, surfer Sami Raif used the facility but was fined too as the machine does not accept cash or phone payments, even though he overpaid online later.

CPM has been approached for a comment.