A mum who claimed to get stuck in a car park for an hour and a half in baking heat was slapped with a £70 fine for overstaying.
On August 7, 21-year-old Ellie Brierley was trying to leave Stretford’s Tesco but traffic from the nearby Manchester United vs Brighton match at Old Trafford blocked her in.
According to the Manchester Evening News, the mum of two was stuck – with her two 20-month-olds – in 32-degree heat as her aircon failed.
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After a long time waiting, she was finally able to leave the car park – but a few days after she got home she was slapped with a fine from Horizon Parking.
The fine came in at £70, but she said it would get reduced to £30 if she paid within 14 days.
She said she had been shopping in Tesco for just under an hour before she tried to leave.
Parking is normally three hours there but is understood to be reduced down to just 90 minutes on game days.
She said: “I had to unpack my shopping in the car and give my boys bits of food and some yoghurt to cool them down. I was sat in standstill traffic on the car park for one hour and twenty five minutes.
“The exit was blocked and the traffic lights went to green and back again four times before I could exit. I was then forced to turn left when I was trying to turn right because all the traffic was in the road.”
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Ellie said that, having just returned from her holidays, she didn’t know the football was going to be on and so didn’t know that the car parking allowance would be different.
“I was stressed out when I was stuck in the traffic and my babies were crying. It was awful when I was in my car because everyone was hot and bothered and some were yelling at each other because they had cut each other up or couldn’t move anywhere – everybody was in the exact same situation and some people were taking it to a different level – it was just mad.
“I have lived round here all my life and I know what it is like on match days but I was fuming that I got a fine, when fans were parking their cars in the Tesco car park. I opened it up at my mum’s house and I just blew.”
A spokesperson for Tesco told the M.E.N: “We’re sorry to hear that this customer experienced delays leaving our car park. We are looking into what happened and we’ll be in touch with the customer when their appeal process is completed.”
The Daily Star has contacted Horizon Parking and Tesco for comment.
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