Father Christmas taken to court over parking error
BBCWhen Father Christmas visited Derby, he hoped to spread festive joy by meeting children at a shopping centre.
Unfortunately, he ended up being taken to court - all because he entered his car registration incorrectly when paying for parking.
Father Christmas, also known as Simon Edmonds, is among those to be caught out at the city's Copeland Street car park, where so many drivers have been "fined" that MPs have been campaigning against the charges.
The car park is run by Excel Parking, which was asked to comment by the BBC but has not done so.
Some drivers have won cases similar to this, but the judge ruled in favour of Excel Parking and ordered Simon to pay £285.56 including costs.
"I have to pay this money within so many days, and if I don't pay the money then a County Court Judgment will be issued against me," he said.
Why was he asked to pay a charge?
Simon visited Derby on 5 December 2024 to meet children in a grotto at the Derbion centre.
He parked in the nearby Copeland Street car park, and said he was rushing to pay because he noticed a sign saying he needed to do so within five minutes.
Numerous other drivers have been sent £100 Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) for not paying quickly enough, including Rosey Hudson, who was asked to pay £1,906.
"I couldn't remember the last three digits of my registration number," he said.
"I erroneously put in three digits to complete the registration number and went back to the car, realised I'd made a mistake, and I altered the last three digits of the registration number, thinking that if somebody came round the car park they would see what I'd done."
But the car park did not have an attendant, as it instead uses automatic number plate recognition cameras to capture images of vehicles entering and leaving.
The registration number he entered into the machine did not match the registration number captured by the cameras, so he was sent a PCN asking him to pay £100 for a "contravention".
Why was he taken to court?
Simon still had his ticket, so he appealed to Excel Parking, explaining his mistake.
The car park operator rejected his appeal by email but said he could pay a reduced charge of £20, provided he paid within 14 days.
This is because the Code of Practice for the parking sector says charges should be reduced to £20 when drivers make "keying errors".
However, he said he did not remember seeing the email, and he thinks it must have gone into his junk mail.
He also said he never received a copy of the letter by post, despite Excel Parking sending him other letters by post.
"I don't ever remember being asked to pay £20," he said.
He was ultimately taken to court when he did not pay the £100.
The judge agreed that the car park's terms and conditions had been breached, and ordered him to pay £285.56.
What has the parking sector said?
Excel Parking has not provided a comment to the BBC, but it did provide evidence that it had sent an email offering a reduced charge of £20.
The International Parking Community (IPC), one of two trade associations for parking operators, said Excel Parking had acted within the sector's Code of Practice.
"The Code makes a Reduced Settlement Charge available for 14 days before it is increased back up to £100," a spokesperson said.
"We encourage motorists to read all correspondence fully and ensure they understand, before deciding how to proceed."
Why have MPs been campaigning?
MPs including Derby South MP Baggy Shanker believe the parking sector's own Code of Practice does not go far enough to protect motorists.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Derby North MP Catherine Atkinson described Excel Parking's charges in relation to its five-minute payment rule as a "five-minute rip-off charge".
The government now intends to introduce its own Private Parking Code of Practice, which "aims to create a fairer, more transparent private parking system".
A consultation was launched in July and ended in September, and feedback is currently being analysed.
The sector's own Code of Practice has already been changed in order to ban the five-minute payment rule.
A spokesperson for the IPC said: "The panel have already committed to reviewing the [sector's own] Code to assess whether further improvements can be made, including, in supporting motorists at the point they are deciding how to respond to the offer of a Reduced Settlement Charge."
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