Driver's anger after being hit by Sandy Railway Station parking fine - without parking

A doctor fined for picking his wife up from Sandy station late at night is warning others to be on their guard after he received a penalty notice through the post.

And he condemned what he says was the pressure to pay immediately to lessen the cost of the fine rather than fight the notice. And he says that despite repeatedly questioning the £60 penalty he only found out by accident that it had been canccelled – a month after appealing.

Dr Moojan Momen, of Northill, regularly picks up his wife Wendi from Sandy station and tracks her train so he can time the pick up and avoid a stay at the rail station car park.

So he was surprised to receive a fixed penalty notice from car park company APCOA on December 1 for a late night trip on November 15.

A large sign at the entrance of the car park states the first 20 minutes parking is free and Moojan was confident he had not breached that time.

He said: “Since I did not leave the car but just turned around, picked up my wife and left, I cannot see how I can be considered to have parked in their parking spaces. Does APCOA mean that just entering their area entitles them to make a charge? But it is almost impossible to turn a car around on Sandy station forecourt area without entering the APCOA marked parking spaces. I time my arrival at the station to within a few minutes of the train's arrival and so I am sure that I am never on the station forecourt area for more than the allowed 20 minutes.”

But he said the policy of reducing the £100 penalty to £60 if you pay within 14 days can deter people fighting the notice for fear it will cost them more money.

He said: “Obviously if you appeal, that will take longer than 14 days, so you lose your chance of the reduced payment. I wonder how many people have paid because of this. After all what faith can you have in a process where the company that would benefit from you paying is acting as the judge?”

The penalty notice from APCOA also states the company can pursue action through a private prosecution in the Magistrates Courts with possible fines of up to £1,000 for non payment. The notice states: “You can now either pay the charge in full or appeal the notice, you cannot do both.”

Moojan appealed – but after hearing nothing back checked the progress of his appeal on the company’s website. He says it showed he had received a response on December 15 but unable to find anything in his emails he went back to the company. Using their chat facility he was told the penalty notice had been cancelled.

“I was confident I would win,” he said. “I was not parked in their parking area, nor did I exceed the 20 minutes allowed. I intend to carry on picking up my wife from the train station exactly as I have done on previous occasions.”

A spokesman foe APCOA said: “There have been no changes in car park policy since APCOA took over the management of Sandy station in December 2020. The car park is enforced by ANPR cameras and the 20 minute grace period remains in effect which we hope will reassure Dr Momen.”