A retired bank manager from Dartford is preparing to spend thousands of pounds in legal fees to contest a £100 parking fine he insists is unjust. Lawrence Carnie, 58, received the penalty after parking company Group Nexus claimed he left his car at the Tower Retail Park in Crayford for 23 hours last June.
Mr Carnie maintains he was at the retail park for only 30 minutes on his initial visit, returning the next day for an hour. Despite appealing to the independent adjudicator POPLA and subsequently to the British Parking Association (BPA), both upheld the fine. The BPA stated after an investigation that there was no breach of its Code of Practice.
Determined to fight the charge, Mr Carnie has enlisted the help of paralegal Luke Memory from CCJ Removals Services, who specialises in challenging parking fines. Mr Memory noted that legal costs could exceed £1,500 if the case goes to court, but Mr Carnie is willing to proceed. “Cases like this do not usually make it to court as the legal costs are much higher than the fine but Mr Carnie is an exception,” said Mr Memory.
Mr Carnie argues that the data provided by Nexus, a 356-page document of vehicle movements, contains numerous errors. He claims to have identified 28 ‘impossible scenarios’ where cars appeared to enter or leave the car park twice. “They are using this poor data to give out fines,” he said. A Group Nexus spokesperson previously stated they could find no evidence his car had visited the site twice.
Mr Carnie remains resolute: “If I bumped into you in the street and said ‘give me £100’ you wouldn’t do it. That’s what’s happened here, they’re asking for £100 for not being there.” He hopes his challenge will highlight what he sees as unfair practices by parking firms using flawed data.
