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Pensioner wins battle over parking fine
St Helens pensioner, Harold Lea, celebrates after being successful in his fight after receiving a parking fine from private parking firm ParkingEye
A PENSIONER who challenged a private parking firm to take him to court SIX times has had the charge against him dropped.
Harold Lea was incensed when he was stung with a parking fine after dropping his disabled wife off at an annual function at the Park Inn hotel.
But, instead of coughing up the £100 fine, the 81-year-old set about fighting private parking firm ParkingEye every step of the way.
Now, after sending numerous letters to ParkingEye pleading with them to take him to a small claims court, the charge against him has been dropped.
Mr Lea, who even offered to donate £500 to a charity of ParkingEye’s choice should they win, said: “A parking ticket from a private firm is simply an invoice - not a fine. Parking companies have no power to recover parking charges without taking court action.
“A lot of people are frightened of appealing. But I was desperate for ParkingEye to take me to court. I wanted to set a precedent. But they didn’t have the guts to do it.”
A spokesman for ParkingEye said: “The Park Inn hotel asked us to show leniency in this case, so, as an act of goodwill, we decided to cancel Mr Lea’s charge.
“ParkingEye runs a fair and responsible parking management service in order to ensure fair parking for all motorists. We adhere strictly to British Parking Association guidelines, and parking charges are regularly enforced by the courts.”
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Weather for St Helens
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 13 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: South east
