A VISITOR to the dale has been left angered after he was stung with a £103 bill when he went to see High Force waterfall.
David Simpson visited the upper dale beauty spot on June 22. Despite paying to park in the visitors’ car park, Mr Simpson was fined £100 because he’d taken longer than ten minutes to obtain a ticket from the on-site parking machine.
The 51-year-old from Durham has asked Civil Enforcement Ltd, the company which collects car parking revenue on behalf of Raby Estates, to consider his appeal.
He has branded the rule as a “tourist trap” which he fears more people could fall into.
Mr Simpson recalls not arriving at the car park until just before 5pm. Confused as to whether or not he would still be able to get down to the waterfall at that time, he said he began talking to a group of ramblers. They informed him that he would still get close enough for photographs and so he committed to the £3 parking fee which he described as “reasonable”.
Having gone to the ticket machine with a £10 note, he discovered that it only accepted coins. He tried and failed to download a parking app on his mobile phone so he says he was left with no other choice but to head across to High Force Hotel to get some change.
He said: “I waited patiently for a thirsty couple in front of me, who were buying a not-too-quick round of early evening drinks for their numerous friends, to get served. Again, unbeknown to me, time was ticking away.
“With the couple served, I decided to get myself a bag of nuts plus change from my tenner as it occurred to me that this hotel must get a constant stream of annoying people asking for change to feed into the coin-sucking parking machines nearby.
“What I didn’t know, however, was that time had already ticked and taken its £100 toll. What I didn’t know was that despite the payment of £3, the camera had clocked my time of arrival with its number plate recognition technology and decided that I was a dreadful offender.”
Nine days later, Mr Simpson received the fine in the post. He says there should be a prominent sign at the entrance to the car park informing visitors that they must pay to park within ten minutes.
A Raby Estates spokesperson said: “Signage does state that you need to pay within the allotted time. It is all around the car park. If the app doesn’t work, you can also call to pay.”
After the Teesdale Mercury contacted Raby Estates last Wednesday, it was revealed that the grace period had now been extended to 30 minutes as of July 4.
A spokesperson said: “High Force car park has always been a car park where you are required to pay. There has been a ten-minute grace period for anyone entering the car park and deciding not to stay. In response to visitors’ feedback, we have extended that to 30 minutes. It is a private company who deals with it and we have had to lobby hard to get this grace period extended.
“The intention of the scheme is to let cars enter more quickly to prevent any backlog of vehicles on the road. It is designed to reduce congestion especially at peak times.”
Mr Simpson added: “I just think that this is all a bit of a sting that can make money out of the unwitting public for a lapse of ten minutes.
“What makes me cross is it’s not like I didn’t pay at all or do anything dishonest.”
