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Leeds Live
Leeds Live
National
Lucy Marshall

Ex-policeman fined £70 for using Leeds Tesco car park he never parked in

An ex-police officer has shared his fury after claiming he received a parking fine for "no reason".

Paul Murphy travelled into Beeston for a business meeting on February 17. He parked on a "public" side road near the Tesco supermarket in Dewsbury Road.

He claims he "never went in" to the supermarket, nor parked in the car park. Paul added that he believes there is a camera in the entrance way which "catches people" as they go in.

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He claims there were no signs along the road, but one sign which said taxis would get priority at 7pm. Paul said: "It was unusual that there were no visible signs as there is usually something".

He parked in the spot for three hours and continued with his day without worry. But, he later received a £70 fine in his postbox from Horizon Parking saying he had "overstayed his welcome".

Horizon manages a number of supermarket car parks across the UK, including Asda, Co Op, and Tesco. Paul said: "I think there must be a camera there and it pinged mine.

"Seems there is an ANPR parking fault at the back of Beeston Tesco. Horizon Parking tried to fine me for overstay in the shop car park.

"The problem is that most people would say 'I'm going to get done if I don't pay it' but it's not OK. It's a lot of money to fork out. I did an appeal and it didn't take me long to do."

Paul appealed the fine, and two weeks later got a response back saying it had been overridden. The appeal said: "Thank you for your recent correspondence concerning the above referenced Parking Charge Notice.

Response from the appeal after a £70 fine was issued to Paul for 'no reason' (Paul Murphy)

"Having fully reviewed the case, I can confirm the Parking Charge Notice has been cancelled and no further action will be taken."

Paul says he wants people to fully check parking fines they receive and not to just "pay it out of laziness".

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