A driver has received a fine for allegedly leaving the vicinity of St Stephen’s Place Leisure Park in Trowbridge while their vehicle remained amid a clampdown on parking restrictions.
The anonymous driver posted a copy of the parking charge notice asking if anyone else has been charged.
The post on Spotted Trowbridge states: “I can recall the attendant on the day just starting his shift. We arrived and left the car to get some cash first.
“Is anyone in the same situation? Did you appeal?”
The fine, photographed in the post, states that the 'driver left site designated for customer parking only'.
The post has so far received more than 40 comments.
READ MORE: St Stephen's Place Leisure Park is sold for £11.37m
Parking regulations on the leisure park have been in enforce since Monday, August 19 following the introduction of new automatic number plate recognition cameras.
It is not known if the enforcement is linked to the £11.37 million sale of the leisure park to new French owners Iroko Zen based in Paris.
The leisure park is now being managed on their behalf by Bristol-based commercial estate agents Knight Frank, who have been approached for a comment.
The car park is managed by UK Parking Control who say the charge will be reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days of the notice being issued.
A sign at the site reads: “If you leave the car park while your vehicle remains you may be issued with a notice of parking charge.”
The car park at St Stephen’s Place Leisure Park offers three hours of free parking and has always been popular with shoppers who often wander off the site.
It is surrounded by the Odeon Cinema, the 83-bedroomed Premier Inn and several restaurants, including Frankie & Benny’s, Loungers, Nando’s, Prezzo, the Little Dessert Shop and Wagamama.
UKPC has now confirmed that drivers who are not customers of these facilities will be charged if they are spotted walking off the site and their vehicle is identified.
A UKPC employee, who does not wish to be named, said: “It is all camera controlled now for the tickets and everything.
“We don’t get involved in that. All we look after now is the disabled bays, out of bay parking and anybody who leaves site.
“If people park there and then walk off into the town, they will then get issued with a ticket."
St Stephen’s Leisure Park has 111 car parking spaces on the site including seven accessible bays for disabled drivers and 36 cycle parking stands.
The car park is covered by ANPR cameras 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but parking charges only apply from 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday.
Non-compliance with the new terms and conditions means drivers face being sent a £100 parking charge notice, reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days.
The UKPC employee added: “We expect users to read the signs. Before the 19th we explained to people what was going to happen.
“The idea is that people who come and park in this car park use the facilities on the site. That is what the company has asked for.”
There are around 550 car parking spaces around the scheme within the Wiltshire Council-owned St Stephen’s Place multi-storey car park and in Court Street if drivers wish to avoid the charges.
UK Parking Control has been contacted for a comment.
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