A MAN from Ruthin who was fined after paying a fee for the wrong car park in Rhyl has said he will never use the facility again.
Alun Jones, 24, left his vehicle at Morfa Hall car park on March 2, but mistakenly paid to use the adjacent disability parking area at Rhyl Library, which is operated by Denbighshire County Council.
On March 20, he was then issued with a fine by Smart Parking Ltd, which runs Morfa Hall car park.
But Mr Jones contests the £170 fine he has been ordered to pay, on the basis that he perceives there to be a lack of clear signage helping people differentiate between the two car parks.
He said: “They’re all Denbighshire County Council signs there, with the prices for the parking.
“They need to signpost it better, and they need to say which machine you use to pay for which car park, because it doesn’t make sense.
“There are three machines there, so which ones do you use to pay for library parking, and for Morfa Hall?
“The two car parks are right next to each other. You turn in, and you either go into the library, or into Morfa Hall. It just doesn’t make sense.”
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Mr Jones said that he “panicked” and paid the fine following his subsequent receipt of debt collection papers.
As he paid the fine, he said he was told by Debt Recovery Plus that the case is now closed and he will be unable to receive his money back.
The “unfair” financial penalty he suffered, as a result of what he felt was merely an honest mistake, caused him “a lot of pressure and stress”, and “ruined my children’s holiday”.
He added: “My partner paid on the PayByPhone app, and the library came up on that but Morfa Hall didn’t, so she thought she had to pay for the library.
“I’m a refuse collector for the council, so you would think I would have free parking in their car parks, anyway.
“I hadn’t used that car park before, and I never will again. I’d recommend that others don’t go there, as well. I’m p****d off.”
Mr Jones is one of numerous residents to air various grievances regarding the car park to the Journal so far this year.
Other issues raised about Morfa Hall car park include faulty ticket machines, and parking fine tickets being issued automatically based on automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
The car park has been owned by Gamlins Law, based at Morfa Hall, since it bought the land from Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) in October 2020.
In response to Mr Jones’ comments, a Denbighshire County Council spokesperson said: "The car park in question sits on land that is owned by Gamlins Solicitors.
“Smart Parking were appointed by the previous land owner (WCVA) to operate the car park and have transferred over with the purchase of the land by Gamlins.
“Denbighshire County Council owns the land in which the disabled bays sit on and the access road leading up to the boundary wall only, and has no legal interest in the land in which Smart Parking operate on.”
Attempts were also made to contact Smart Parking for comment.
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