Wheatley Hall Road Shopping Park: Doncaster shoppers furious as car park’s four-hour limit costs them £100 for overstaying

Wheatley Centre Shopping Park on Wheatley Hall Road has a four-hour limit but it is easy to lose track of time, given the array of shops in the area and the popularity amongst the locals.

Russ Thomas said he went shopping on May 20 and received a letter in the mail two weeks later, detailing a £100 charge for parking for five hours and five minutes.

He said: "I didn't even know there were restrictions in place here as there is no option for payment and with the many shops there, it is easy to be there for this amount of time."

He said he was issued with the fine on June 1 and had the option to pay the reduced amount of £60 before June 15, but he only received it on Friday, June 10, giving him just five days to pay the reduced amount which he did not have.

After 28 days, he said, another £40 will be added.

Russ said: "I am planning to appeal. I have been working away and can't appeal until I have been up to the site and photographed the sign, if I can find it.

"I was rather dismayed to think that although I was shopping at all the shops provided, I got a ticket.

"It takes a long time to get round all the shops so the parking should be clearly identified and a longer period."

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Ticket arrived six months later

Another customer also expressed her dissatisfaction with the parking restrictions, and told how she did not know about the offence until a letter arrived at her mum's place six months later.

The woman, who did not wish to be identified, stated that her mum went Christmas shopping on November 16 last year, when the shopping centre was crowded due to Covid safety rules still in place.

According to the copy of the charge, the car was parked 16 minutes over the limit and the car owner needs to pay a reduced sum of £60 if payment is received within 14 days.

If payment is not received within 28 days, an additional debt recovery charge of £40 will be incurred.

She said: "This is ridiculous… you would have thought it would have been issued well before now, usually a few weeks.

"She will have been doing her Christmas shopping and it's usually busy getting in and out of shops at this time of year and obviously hand washing, masks on due to Covid."

CP Plus, the parking management company, said "There is clear and prominent signage displayed throughout the site detailing the terms and conditions of the parking."

A spokesperson for the firm added: "If the motorist believes the PCN has been issued incorrectly the document shows how to appeal and this would put it on hold until the appeal has been dealt with.

"Whilst we endeavour to issue all Parking Charge Notices as soon as possible, we have up to seven months to do so."

This is not the first time the car park attracted controversy. In 2020, a woman was fined £100 for overstaying in the car park after doing her Christmas shopping.

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