Company boss fined 100 for parking in his own space

A business owner has racked up more than 100 fines for parking in his own lot.

Graham Bethel says he is entitled to a vehicle at his company’s depot in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

Since he and his daughter leased a shop in town, the space has been included in the deal.

Graham has repeatedly tried to apply for an official parking permit for his car but has still not received it.

As a result, he was left with parking tickets in abundance — and employees using the space after hours and late at night had also accumulated fees.

So far, Graham has been fighting in vain for the fines to be lifted.

He recently saw his credit score drop from a perfect 100 to just a 2, which turned out to be the result of a County Court Judgment (CCJ) imposed on him.

He told Metro.co.uk: “We now have probably around 100 parking notices and have again contacted the park society and their solicitors many times to explain our position.

“I was surprised to find out that without my knowledge of any legal proceedings, a CCJ had been issued against me. After much searching, I found that they were starting a case for me with a completely wrong address to prevent me from defending my case.

“Even though I asked the court to set aside the sentence, there is such a backlog in the courts that three months later I still have this CCJ against me, making it difficult to run my business.”

Graham added that the fines, which would total thousands, caused sleepless nights.

Because of his low credit rating, he is also unable to lease a car for his company, a security firm.

He added: “Any fines would add up to thousands, all for parking in my own lot.”

UKPC, which issued the fines, and DCB Legal, which Graham says created the CCJ, have been contacted by Metro.co.uk for comment.

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