A small family business has claimed to be £40,000 out of pocket as their van has been trapped in a central London car park for over two years.
Mark Lucas parked his electric Vauxhall van at a stacked car park at Rathbone Square, just off Oxford Street, in December 2022.
Mr Lucas told the BBC he was unable to retrieve the van due to a “mechanical malfunction” at the car park and was told in January 2023 that new parts were needed to fix the issue.
But over two years later, no update has been provided, leaving the businessman upset and frustrated.
"It was about six o'clock that evening, we went back to the concierge and said, 'can we have the van back?' To which he said, 'we're very sorry, but you can't, because the stacking system has malfunctioned'," Mr Lucas said.
A stacked car park means cars are parked on top of each other using platforms and lifts in order to save space.
Mr Lucas, the co-owner of HCS Furniture in Buckinghamshire, was told that his van would be returned soon and decided to hire another van for £800 a month to keep the business ticking over.
But the vehicle was never returned, and despite calling the car park constantly, Mr Lucas said he gets “little or no response”.
Instead, the furniture company has had to continue to hire a second vehicle and pay off a monthly loan for the trapped van.
In total, Mr Davies believes his company “are currently about £40,000 out of pocket”.
The delays have been blamed on engineers needing new parts and the issue would not be able to be fixed until May 2024.
Mr Davies was told that any losses would be recoverable from whoever was found to be responsible for the issue, but the problem persisted.
Mr Lucas also told the BBC: "While we're trying to grow the business, we can't, because we have all this, this money tied up, how can you plan for anything when you don't know what is going to happen in in the near future'?"
Double Parking Systems, which maintains and repairs the car park, said that vehicles have been able to access the car park since March 15 after the main cause of delays was receiveing equipment from overseas.
A spokesperson said: “When a major fault occurred in December 2022, we responded quickly - attending the site within hours and submitting repair quotations shortly after.
“Unfortunately, the main causes of delay in resolving the issue were prolonged procurement approval processes and delays in receiving specialised parts from overseas suppliers - factors entirely outside of our control.
“While we regret how long it took to restore access, we acted in good faith at every stage and proceeded with repairs as soon as we were authorised and equipped to do so.
“Vehicle access was fully restored on 15 March 2025. We remain fully committed to supporting the reliability, safety, and performance of the parking system moving forward.”
The Standard has also approached Rathbone Square for comment.
