Drivers in Littlehampton have been left furious after being hit with £100 fines for leaving a car park — even if they shopped there. The new rule at Wick Parade car park means motorists can park for up to three hours but only "whilst remaining on site."
Local Businesses Suffer
Vanessa Boltwood, a Post Office worker, told the BBC: "We're losing £200 to £300 a week in shop sales. We're all part of one family of Wick, I don't know why it's being segregated."
The car park operator, One Parking Solution, stated that enforcement is "necessary to prevent non-customer parking, which places an unfair burden on the landowner in terms of maintenance costs and business rates, while also limiting access for legitimate users."
Strict Enforcement
In an email to a resident on 16 March, the company wrote: "If you park on site and a passenger walks off site, the vehicle has parked against the terms and conditions displayed on the signage."
Michelle Bly, owner of The Flower Shop just outside the parade, told BBC Radio Sussex: "The new rules mean anyone who parks in the parade car park can't step foot off site. So they can't do their shopping then go to us or the post office." She added that "far more sophisticated" cameras were installed in March.
"Customers are quite alarmed, they don't realise. They would not believe they would get fined for walking out of the car park even if they've spent money in the parade. They are pretty shocked," Bly said.
Rachel Warren, owner of Sips and Giggles cafe, said: "We're gutted by it, we're all being impacted. People have been scaremongered into not wanting to park here. The company need to reconsider its rules, allow people to use the car park for any of the shops on this parade. As far as we're concerned, Wick Parade is all the shops. The worst bit is most of us are small single businesses trying to survive."
