Businesses, berth holders and individuals associated with the historic Liverpool Marina have described a "catastrophic nightmare" after scores of people were hit with thousands of pounds worth of fines, bailiff threats and court orders for parking where they say they should never have been charged.
Background of the dispute
Liverpool Marina has been operating for more than 40 years at Coburg Wharf, close to the city centre. The marina offers up to 350 berths to boat owners and those living on vessels. The marina was built by property developer David Beard, who retired in 2017 and handed the business over to his daughter Chloe, while still acting as a consultant for the business.
Mr Beard explained to the ECHO that at the start of 2022, the marina engaged a company called Smart Parking to manage the car parks at the marina, which the family has on a long-lease from the Canal and River Trust. They informed the firm that a large number of berth holders, employees, owners of independent businesses at the marina and others should be placed on a white list, meaning they were allowed to park for free and should not be fined by Smart Parking, which operated ANPR cameras in the car parks.
David explained: "We started noticing towards the end of 2024, that more and more customers were coming to us complaining that they were getting Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), which they should not have been getting. We couldn’t understand why this was happening."
Escalation after contract termination
David said the marina got so fed up with this happening that they decided to end their contract with Smart Parking and brought on another parking operator. Smart Parking was told of this in November 2024, with the contract ending the following March. But then things got worse, David explained, stating: "From the time we gave them notice, the number of PCNs increased dramatically."
The situation has now escalated to such a point that many of those who operate from or are based at the marina are facing thousands of pounds worth of fines and have been receiving threatening letters from bailiffs and court summons. Smart Parking insists it is happy that all the PCNs that were sent out were issued correctly in relation to the contractual agreement it had with Liverpool Marina at the time.
Individual stories of distress
One such person affected is retired dentist Neil Thomas, who has had a boat in the marina for thirty years. He said: "My experience goes back to January 2025 when I suddenly got a PCN. I came into the office and the staff member in the office sent an email through. I watched her send it to Smart Parking saying I was on the white list and this was a mistake and should be removed."
"A month later I got a follow up PCN as if nothing had happened. By this time I had been informed that they were no longer looking after the parking. I was therefore surprised that this kept going. It ended up with me being taken to the small claims court for £1,400. I was going to go to court, I sent in my defence, along with a written statement from the Marina. Three weeks before it was due to go to court, Smart Parking withdraw from the case."
He added: "Would you believe, two weeks after that I got another PCN, going back to February 2025? I wrote to the company after that, saying I trusted they would be removing that PCN. I haven’t had a reply at all to that letter, but I did get another PCN. It is driving my wife berserk. She is getting very jumpy. She is taking it very badly. She has visions of a bailiff turning up at our house."
Ian Costello runs the Harbourside Sea School based at the marina. He was one of many people Smart Parking were told to add to the white list, but this didn't stop the fines coming. He said: "There are a lot of people in the Marina having the same problems. And it has got worse since the Marina ditched Smart Parking and brought a new company in. Now it feels like they have gone ballistic and so many people are receiving fines. This includes people who live on the boats, some of whom are struggling financially."
"They are sending me fines on a weekly basis, through a debt collection company. Now I have to go to court where I will get a potential CCJ. I’ve just put a defence in." Mr Costello said that to avoid going to court, he paid a £1,000 fee in what he was told was a full and final settlement, but has continued to receive regular PCN notices. He added: "I am on somewhere between £5,000 and 6,000 now, having already paid a thousand pounds. This has turned into a catastrophic nightmare. I started this business up to help get people on the water and get them into jobs. But this is crushing my business at the moment and I can’t see a way out right now."
Martin O'Shea, who runs two Airbnb boats at the marina, is another person to be affected. He told the ECHO: "This is creating awful stress for people. I have fought them all the way. I got 70 fines in one batch at one point, for my car which has been on the white list from the get-go. It feels like they are playing a percentage game, banking on the fact that a certain number of people will just pay up straight away."
Berth holder Robbie Daniels said: "My registration has always been on the white list. I went and saw the staff at the time I received a ticket, they copied me in on emails explaining that I was on the white list and to take the fine off. Weeks later more PCNs came and then more. This has been going on for 18 months now. They have now sent me a court letter, which I have replied and I am now preparing a defence. They are taking me to court for five parking fines, which comes to about £1,000. They are using a bailiffs firm, with letters for another 20, which is about £3,000 - so I know there is more coming."
David Beard's response
David Beard, who created the marina and now has a County Court Judgement against his name because of parking fines, added: "I find it absolutely astounding what is going on. It seems like the court system just automatically supports what they are doing. People are obviously intimidated by the idea of going to court so end up paying." He said he had offered to pay a settlement of £50,000 to Smart Parking to settle everyone's claims, but on the proviso that an agreement would be signed that no more PCNs would arrive for anyone related to the marina going forward. He says the company refused to agree to this.
Smart Parking's response
In a response, Smart Parking told the ECHO: "Smart Parking was brought in to manage the car park at Liverpool Marina, to prevent parking abuse, and ensure customers could find spaces. While we managed the site, we used an ANPR parking management system to monitor vehicles entering and leaving the car park. The terms and conditions were clearly displayed on numerous signs around the site. These stated that marina visitors were required to register their vehicles using the on-site terminal. Alternatively, regular users could be added to a whitelist, but as agreed contractually the necessary details had to be provided to us by Liverpool Marina’s management."
"We have not been on site since March 2025, so can confirm no additional charges would have been issued by us after this point. However, before this point we are happy that all the PCNs that were sent out were issued correctly in relation to the contractual agreement we had with Liverpool Marina at the time. Smart Parking is one of the worlds’ largest parking management companies and we are proud members of the International Parking Community (IPC) and strictly follow its guidelines. As part of this we operate an IPC audited appeals process that allows motorists to provide supporting evidence. We will encourage any motorist to contact us directly if they feel there are mitigating circumstances in their cases. We are currently in dispute with Liverpool Marina regarding a larger issue."
