Parking agency tries to ‘cost horrified owners to park on their very own land’

Homeowners claim a parking company tried to charge them to park on their own land – and say they’re so stressed they should be paid compensation.

Residents in four homes say UK Car Park Management incorrectly installed signs on private land threatening drivers with a £100 parking fine if they didn’t have a permit. They say they were left stressed and anxious that their parking spaces were going to be used by visitors to a nearby care home.

Now one resident, Penny Jackson, 73, says the company should be paying compensation for the stress and anxiety caused by the signs. Retired grandmother Penny, from Maidstone, Kent, said: “I’ve sent them other emails now saying they should be paying compensation for the stress they’ve caused and any damage they’ve done.

“One of the neighbours was in a complete panic about it – she didn’t believe her husband that they owned the land and weren’t doing anything wrong. Parking is bad enough with people visiting over the road as they park out the front. If my kids come round to see me they struggle to park. So if any visitors have a permit they’ll think they can come round here and think it’s an overflow car park.

“On Friday, I must’ve spent a whole day trying to get hold of them to sort it, as did my neighbour.” Penny, who needs to be able to get a walker out of her car, said she went out to go shopping on Friday May 10 and when she came back a man was putting the signs up.

When she objected and said they were in the wrong place, he told her to take it up with the parking company. However, she says after a week she still hadn’t heard anything from UK Car Park Management – but claims one of her neighbours was told they were investigating the issue. The signs were removed on Friday 17 May after the local newspaper got in touch.

Penny said: “It gets busy around here especially when they’re visiting the old people’s home. I went out Friday morning to pick some shopping up from down the road and when I came back he was out there putting the signs up. He was on his fourth sign – he hadn’t put the one up on the lamppost yet.

“I went over and asked what he was doing and he just said he was told to put the signs up even when I told him he was in the wrong place and on private property. He just told me I’d have to take it up with the parking company. It took me five goes of ringing them and I spoke to someone who said they understood my frustration and they shouldn’t be up.

“I told her I’ll go and take them down but she said not to do that in case they were damaged.” Golding Homes spokesman Genette Pinwill, assistant director of tenancy and housing change, said: “The car parking signs near Northumberland Road were put up by mistake by our parking management company CPM.

“We’ve spoken to CPM were out on Friday afternoon to see our customers and have removed all of the signs. We’re sorry for any upset this has caused customers.” UK Car Park Management has been approached for comment.