Good evening! I received an NtK on 30/11/2025 for allegedly exceeding a paid for parking duration on 14/11/2025 at the Merrion Centre MSCP in Leeds. I am the Keeper of the vehicle and I have the V5C in possession. Please see the letter I received:
https://ibb.co/KczvdbBX https://ibb.co/Dfpx5vc4 https://ibb.co/kf909Qt
As you can see from the NtK, the Driver arrived by car at 16:40. They drove straight in - no need for a ticket as it is all monitored by cameras - and found a place to park. They then attended a concert at the nearby First Direct Arena. They arrived back at the car park on foot and noticed that the entrance/exit was very busy due to people leaving the car park after the concert. The Driver paid at a machine on the ground floor by entering their reg at 22:19 and they paid £13.00 - I have the original receipt in my possession that shows this information.
The £13.00 was for "Up to 6 hours" which would mean they had paid for parking until at least 22:40. They were not given any options for paying for a longer duration. They arrived back at their car no more than five minutes later to find that the cars trying to exit were literally at a standstill and so no exit was immediately possible. They texted someone at 22:26 to say that it "Might take a while to get out of the car park!" and waited until an opportunity arose to join the queue to exit the car park - there is just one entrance/exit. I have included a picture of this entrance/exit that I got from Google Maps. In this picture you will be able to see a door on the left which is where the payment for the parking was made:
https://ibb.co/3mVYfp70
The Driver joined the queue of traffic at the earliest safe opportunity, which was almost certainly not before 22:40, and made it to the exit at 23:17 - as shown on the NtK. The Driver was alone and so they do not have any witnesses.
As the Keeper, my honest reaction to the NtK was that the Driver had not done anything wrong as they had paid what they had been asked to pay as soon as they returned to the car park and exited at the earliest possible moment. Surely some consideration has to be given to the time it takes to leave a car park once payment has been made, especially on event nights which the car park is obviously aware of? In all fairness, if the Driver had not returned to the car park until after 22:40, they would have had to pay £3 extra for "Up to 10 hours" parking - which is the next available price point for parking - and so avoided any possible violation. But, again, surely the Driver is not at fault here?
I have not responded at all to the NtK and, as this is the first NtK I have ever received, any and all advice would be much appreciated! If any further information is needed, please let me know and I will provide as soon as possible. Thankyou very much in advance!
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