An airport has cancelled a fine after a pensioner was left facing a a £255 charge when he stopped his car to read a sign during a 'No Stopping' zone. On January 2, 2023, Andy Smith had driven two friends to East Midlands Airport as they were due to fly the following day, and planned to check in their baggage the night before and stay in the Leonardo Hotel to save time.
Mr Smith, who lives in Sheffield, entered the airport drop-off zone around 5pm and paid the £5 drop off fee, so that his friend Derek Sleath, 75, could take his and his wife's luggage into the airport to check it in. The 75-year-old then drove from the drop off zone to the hotel, which is located in the airport grounds, to drop off Derek's wife.
As Andy approached the hotel he was unsure of the arrangements for dropping someone off, and saw that there was a barrier blocking the car park. During the approach he stopped for less than a minute to read a parking sign, which proved difficult due to it being dark and rainy.
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Weeks later Andy received a Charge Notice stating he was being fined £100 for stopping on a red line. This later increased to £255 as Andy did not pay and instead tried to appeal it before taking the matter to court. However, on Tuesday, July 11, East Midlands Airport confirmed that they would be cancelling the fine after being contacted by Nottinghamshire Live.
Andy initially described the situation as "ridiculous." He stated: "I was absolutely staggered that I should be charged for stopping to read the hotel’s notice.
"It’s outrageous. We have the receipt to show we paid the drop-off fee and a letter from the hotel confirming the booking. I’ve complained to the parking company, used their appeals process, and complained to East Midlands Airport. It all falls on deaf ears.”
Mr Smith says he understands that passengers must only be dropped off in the drop-off zone, but he did that, and then didn't know the policy for dropping off a hotel guest. He feared that he might have to go to court to sort the situation out, and felt as if the airport was punishing "two confused pensioners, who simply stopped momentarily to read a sign having already paid the drop-off fee."
He added: "If the sign isn’t supposed to be read, why is it there? It could not possibly be read whilst driving past it as it contains too much detail.”
Speaking about the situation, Derek described it as "just unbelievable." He explained that the sign has a lot of information on it which would be "impossible" to read without stopping and felt that the no stopping system was "ridiculous" and didn't work in that area as people would still have to stop at the car park barrier for the hotel.
After several weeks going through paperwork and trying to appeal the matter, Andy described the situation as "frustrating and distressing”. However, he now feels "relieved" that the airport has decided not to issue the fine.
An East Midlands Airport spokesperson, said: “Having reviewed the footage of Mr Smith’s vehicle movements, we have instructed Vehicle Control Services (VCS), which enforces no waiting on red-routed airport estate roads, to cancel the fine. We apologise for the inconvenience that this has caused him.
“Controlling traffic flow across a busy airport site is key to keeping visitors safe. For this reason, airport estate roads are red-routed and “no stopping” signage is clearly visible to discourage drivers from waiting in undesignated parking areas when dropping off and collecting passengers.
“All drivers have a choice of drop-off and pick-up parking at the airport. Waiting for fifteen minutes in rapid drop off costs £5, while 30 minutes parking in short stay 1 car park is £6. One hour’s free parking can be had in Long Stay 2.”
Regarding their decision, Andy stated: "I feel relieved but I also feel angry that there must be a lot of other people that could have been taken advantage of and have paid the fine when they could have been in similar circumstances to me. If it hadn't been for the Nottingham Post it might have gone to court and I might have had to pay over £200 for stopping for 53 seconds.
"I want to make other people aware of this and to stick to their guns." He added that he is "really grateful" that the situation has been resolved.
