Rhyl woman left aggrieved following ‘unfair’ fine at car park in town

The resident, who asked not to be named, left her vehicle at Morfa Hall car park on March 14, but mistakenly paid to use the adjacent disability parking area at Rhyl Library, which is operated by Denbighshire County Council.

She was loaning a car from “Select Car Leasing”, who, she said, was subsequently issued with a £90 fine (£60 plus £30 admin fee) by “Smart Parking”, who operates Morfa Hall car park.

Though the resident said Select Car Leasing paid the fine, she deems it “unfair”, given the proximity of the two car parks with each other, and the fact that only Rhyl Library appears on the “PayByPhone” mobile application.

The adjacent Rhyl Library car park (Image: Newsquest)

The resident said: “I didn’t know anything about it until I had a letter from Select Car Leasing, who said they’d paid the fine before I knew anything about it.

“I parked in Morfa Hall, paid on the PayByPhone app for Rhyl Library’s car park and didn’t think anything of it.

“What I now realise is that Morfa Hall and Rhyl Library are two separate car parks, but on the app, only Rhyl Library appears. I just thought it was all one big car park.

“I know there are signs there, but if you’re in a rush to park and don’t have time to look at all of the signs, it’s not obvious.

“I fell p***ed off, to be honest. I know that, technically, I’ve done wrong, but I just think it’s unclear and unfair, really. On my phone, you can clearly see that I always pay for using car parks.

“I’d like the app to show both car parks, given we’re all being encouraged to use things more digitally, and not carry change.”

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Last month, Alun Jones, from Ruthin, told the Journal that he made the same mistake, and was fined £170 as a result.

But Mr Jones said he also perceived there to be a lack of clear signage helping people differentiate between the two car parks.

They are two 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.

A spokesperson for Select Car Leasing added: “We’re sorry to hear about the parking fine handed-out to one of our customers and we sympathise with her complaint.

“We’d urge those in charge of the car park in Rhyl to make the signage much clearer in order to better differentiate between the two adjacent car parks.

“The lack of clarity is clearly causing confusion and frustration to those who visit Rhyl.”

The resident said she also contacted James Davies, Vale of Clwyd MP, about the matter.

Dr Davies said that the resident is the latest of a number of people to have complained to him about the car park.

He added: “I have collated a dossier of all issues, including historical cases from the last 12 months and will be approaching Smart Parking to request a meeting.

"The concerns raised with me vary, which will make it difficult to reach a one-size-fits-all solution.

"However, I do feel that Smart Parking could demonstrate more understanding and flexibility to genuine difficulties encountered by their customers.

“I am also writing to the Department of Transport to suggest that there should be greater alignment between the various parking apps used across the country.”

A Smart Parking spokesperson said in response: "Although the car parks are in close proximity, they are clearly differentiated by the different signage, which is highlighted by the fact that hundreds of people use the car park we manage without any issue every single day.

"We would remind any motorist that when driving onto private land they should clearly read the terms and conditions of use before deciding to park.

"It is important to highlight that Smart Parking are proud members of the British Parking Assocation and strictly follow all of its guidelines."