Free Traffic Legal Advice

Good afternoon,

I recently parked my car in Christchurch Priory car park, which has recently installed paid parking (the cost of which can be reclaimed by churchgoers, previously this small car park wasn’t chargeable). I used the car park with my family and paid at the machine which has been set up in the car park, £1.80, which was the minimum (2 hours).

We didn’t bother reclaiming the money in the end, since there was engineering work going on in the building which made it difficult to access the refund machine and was more hassle than it was worth. We stayed in the car park for 42 minutes, and just to give some background, we had a meeting in the church which I can prove via email etc. if needs be.

I received a letter, attached, citing a breach. Unfortunately I binned the receipt 2 days prior to receiving the letter along with a few other  receipts cluttering my wallet… however I paid by card so can see on my bank statement the transaction. The statement includes ‘Christchurch’ as the location of the machine, and the Chelmsford address of ‘Horizon’ as the location (which seems to be their HQ).

I haven’t replied to them yet at all, was wondering if there was anything particular I should do in response to them since, unfortunately from experience, I know how stubborn these characters, are despite genuine errors even if it’s on their part..

Thanks in advance.

Good afternoon,

Thanks as always for the advice and the template, much appreciated. I have liaised with them as suggested and the church removed the parking charge. Thank you helping.