A pensioner faces a £100 fine for being stationary for less than a minute – after parking enforcers pulled him over when he stopped and asked for DIRECTIONS.
Derek Sculthorpe, 77, pulled over for a mere 23 seconds to ask a passerby how to get to the Vulcan Experience exhibition at Doncaster Robin Hood Airport, South Yorks.
But he ended up being hit with the extortionate charge.
The retired accountant was later sent pictures of the incident, along with an initial £60 penalty notice, after being clocked by men working in a van for the airport’s Vehicle Control Services.
After his appeal against the fine was rejected Vehicle Control Services upped the charge to £100.
Derek, from Doncaster, had dropped his brother off at the airport and had decided to try to find the Vulcan exhibition while he was down at the site.
He said: “I stopped at the side of the road and asked a man who worked at one of the industrial units nearby. He pointed and said, ‘It’s over there.’
“I saw a van pull up behind me and then pull out again. I wasn’t even there a minute. I just stopped, opened a window and asked this chap.
“These people did not know what was going on. Surely they should have the sense to get out and go and speak to people. Someone could have broken down, or had a heart attack.
“I was not parking – I was just stopping. This feels like bullying. I’m really angry.”
CCTV footage from the site showed Derek‘s car was stationary throughout the time it was watched by Vehicle Control Services.
A spokesman for Vehicle Control Services Ltd said Derek was fined because he pulled over on a “no stopping” private roadway close to the airport.
The spokesman added Derek should have been fully aware of the situation as he had been fined on the road before.
He said: “The roadways in the surrounding areas of Robin Hood Airport represent private land.
“Motorists are allowed to enter provided they agree to the conditions advertised on numerous signs at the entrance to, and throughout, the private roadways.”
A spokesman for Robin Hood Airport said Vehicle Control Services were used to stop unsafe parking by motorists, which caused safety risks.
He said: “Signage is prevalent all around the airport warning people not to stop, unfortunately we do hear lots of stories of people who do stop, even for a short period, and are then shocked when they receive a fine.
“We want to ensure that anyone travelling to and from the airport does so without incident and would urge people to heed the signs and find an alternative, safe place to stop, should they need to.”
In May, Anna Turner, 59, from Cottingham, East Yorks., also fell foul of Vehicle Control Services, after she was hit with an “outrageous” #150 fine after making a u-turn on a road near Robin Hood Airport.
Anna vowed to fight the fine, even willing to go to prison to avoid forking out the cash to the parking enforcement firm.
She said: “It is just me on my own, I am five foot nothing and weigh seven stone but I am going to take them on.Q
