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WHAT THE PARK
I was slapped with £510 in parking fines after nearly six years – but I never even stopped at the car park
A DRIVER was left baffled after being slapped with £510 in parking fines - nearly six YEARS after they were supposedly logged.
William Black, 37, was told he had overstayed his welcome at the Antonine Shopping Centre in Cumbernauld, Scotland, three times in 2016.
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He says he was only told about the historic fees, which date back to separate instances in April, May and July 2016, last week after debt collectors sent him a grumbling letter in the post.
But William, from Calverton, Notts., has no recollection of ever being in the shopping centre’s car park - and claims he has never even shopped inside.
“I’m really quite annoyed,” he told The Sun Online.
“It’s concerning that people can just write to you six years later and say you owe £510.
“Apparently I was in there for over four hours [each time]. If I was ever there in the first place!
“I've heard nothing about this previously. It’s such a long time ago I genuinely can’t remember.”
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The property valuer, who used to work in the area the fines were issued, claims he phoned debt collectors DCBL Ltd to ask for more evidence, but they were unable to provide him with any.
He said he was told the hefty notices must have got “lost in the post” with the call handler adding they have "six years to pursue this".
William now insists he won’t pay a penny towards the fines without proof - and is willing to go to court over the bizarre debts.
He added: “There’s no way I will pay that fine, not without any evidence.
“There’s better things I could do with the money than pay for some parking charge where I don’t even remember parking.
There’s no way I will pay that fine, not without any evidence.
William Black
“That’s a lot of money - I’m going to wait until I get a court date.”
The penalties from DCBL Ltd. were all priced at a hefty £100, with a further £70 ‘admin fee’ attached to each one.
They state the reason for each of them was a breach of the car park’s four hour maximum free stay and no returns policy within two hours.
The letter sent to William, which lists his alleged offences as 'multiple unpaid parking charges' states his next opportunity to dispute the charge will be if the matter is taken to court.
It adds: "You now have 14 days from the date of this letter to either pay the outstanding amount or call us to discuss payment."
The Antonine Shopping Centre said they could not comment on the matter as it relates to a period that was "under previous ownership and management and does not relate to ourselves".
The company with previous connections to the shopping centre said they were also unable to comment but believed the shopping centre had a local management team who would have dealt with operational matters at the time.
They added the team “would have transferred to the current owners upon sale”.
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Current management for the Antonine Shopping Centre insisted the new owners are "completely separate from any previous owners and any policies they had in place at that time".
DCBL Ltd. was approached for comment.
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