Free Traffic Legal Advice

Hello

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The parking site allows drivers to park for up to 4 hours if they visit local premises, including the Odeon cinema. On the day of the event, the driver either forgot to enter, or is unsure whether they entered, the car registration number into the terminal available inside the Odeon cinema hall.
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A few days later, a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) arrived at my address, as I am the registered keeper of the vehicle. I contacted Odeon and provided evidence of the cinema ticket booking confirmation, hoping they would assist in cancelling the PCN. However, they responded with an excuse—not once, but twice.
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My original complaint, along with their responses and email correspondence, is included below. I’ve also provided a link to a copy of both sides of the PCN and signage at the parking site, and google links to the parking site entrance.
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To my untrained eyes the PCN looks like PoFA compliant. I would be very grateful if you could review my appeal and let me know any modifications. Is it ok to submit the appeal online? I’m unsure whether I’ll receive a copy of my response as proof.
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My appeal

Dear ParkingEye,
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I am appealing the above Parking Charge Notice issued at Freemans Park, Leicester on 4 May 2025.
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The driver visited Odeon cinema on that date and parked for less than 4 hours — well within the permitted free parking period for cinema customers. However, it appears the registration number may not have been entered into the terminal inside the cinema. This was a genuine oversight.
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Attached is proof of the Odeon ticket booking for the visit. As a genuine customer who complied with the intended purpose of the free parking scheme, I request that this PCN be cancelled as a matter of fairness and in line with BPA guidance on reasonable enforcement.
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When I contacted ODEON, they advised me to appeal with proof of my cinema ticket purchase, and said I should be successful in the appeal.
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Given the circumstances and supporting evidence, I trust you will cancel this charge."

Google link to the car park Entrance
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.6210675,-1.1353848,3a,15y,86.89h,94.36t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sci11PNV61VuZTiLaG_ditA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-4.359999999999999%26panoid%3Dci11PNV61VuZTiLaG_ditA%26yaw%3D86.89!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDUxMi4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D
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PCN and Signage
https://imgur.com/a/s6L2kLU
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My online complaint to ODEON

Parking Charge Notice is sent but the free parking is allowed for 4 hours. The notice clearly says the car was parked only 3 hours 18 minutes. Please could you speak to your contractor and cancel this PCN. I have attached cinema ticket and PCN. Thanks.

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ODEON email response to my complaint

I am sorry to hear you have received a car parking fine.
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I am afraid the car park at ODEON Leicester is not owned by ODEON, but a third-party company called Parking Eye.
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Since the car park is owned and operated by the parking enforcement company, we cannot influence their decisions on parking fines.
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My advice would be to appeal this fine using their official appeals procedure. You should be able to successfully appeal the parking charge by following the instructions on the back of the letter you have received and providing your proof of purchase (cinema tickets and/or a booking reference email).

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My email reply to them

Dear Customer Services,
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Thank you for your response, but I must express my disappointment. Odeon has a contract with ParkingEye, and as part of that arrangement, cinema guests are entitled to four hours of free parking.
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Given this agreement, I believe it is Odeon's responsibility—not your patrons'—to resolve issues arising from that parking arrangement. I should not be expected to chase your contractor to correct what is clearly an oversight.
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Please refer the "ParkingEye User Manual" and use their email address to contact them directly to arrange for the immediate cancellation of my PCN. Kindly also copy me in on the correspondence using my email ag_in_uk@yahoo.com.
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I trust Odeon will uphold its commitment to customer care and resolve this matter swiftly."

ODEON response to my second email

Thank you for your response.
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I completely understand your frustrations after receiving a parking fine following your recent visit to ODEON Leicester.
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As mentioned by my colleague, the car park at ODEON Leicester is not owned by ODEON nor do we employ the parking agency, so we cannot influence their decisions on parking fines. The car park does allow guests using ODEON and any of the other surrounding businesses 4 hours free parking by registering your vehicle at one of the terminals, which can be found within each of the venues.
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Unfortunately, as we do not own this car park we would be unable to contact them on your behalf to waive the fine. We do advise following the appeals process provided on the back of the letter you have received for the reverse of the fine by attaching your booking confirmation/cinema tickets.
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I do hope that you are able to successfully appeal this fine using the information that we have provided.
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If you do have any other questions or queries, then please do not hesitate to contact us."

Thanks for reading. Your help will be much appreciated.
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Thank you, and apologies for the formatting issues in my original post. I struggled to format it correctly and it looked fine in the preview, but when I posted it, the tags and layout didn't appear as expected. Could you please let me know how to properly set paragraphs in forum posts? Is there a formatting FAQ or guide available?

Complain to the landowners agent, who will be the party that contracted ParkingEye:

KLM Real Estate is listed as the investment agent for Freemans Leisure Park. They can be contacted at +44 (0)20 7317 3700 or via email at enquiries@klm-re.com

Odeon will not be the contractor for their parking operator. You can make a complaint to them to let them know that their landlord has a contractual relationship with a an unregulated private parking company that is issuing £100 invoices to void patrons of their business and they should put pressure on the landlord to get the PCNs cancelled. However, Odeon themselves have no direct contractual relationship with the operator.

You have exactly there same tools to find out who to send any complaint to Odeon as we do. We are far too busy to do everyones footwork for them.

Good news, I think! I’ve received a reply from Workman Real Estate. Do I still need to contact Parking Eye to confirm the cancellation, or submit an appeal?

"Afternoon,

Apologies you have been charged incorrectly here.

I have passed this across to Parking Eye and they will be cancelling the charge.

Best Regards"

Thanks to all the forum members, especially b789, for helping me sort this out!

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