Car park row explodes as drivers urged to 'boycott' shops over intrusive camera strategy
Residents have voiced concerns about the surveillance in the car park
PA/GOOGLE
Drivers have been urged to boycott a Wiltshire car park after being charged for briefly leaving their vehicles to withdraw cash for ticket machines.
The car park, outside St Stephen's Place Leisure Park in Trowbridge, has recently installed Ulez-style Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras - which caught out one motorist when they left their car to withdraw some money.
After returning home none the wiser, the driver then received a letter from car park administrators UK Parking Control eight days later telling them to pay up.
The driver posted a photo of their penalty charge notice online - which had informed them they'd "left the site designated for customer parking only".
The motorist was caught out in the car park, outside St Stephen's Place Leisure Park in Trowbridge
They captioned their image: "If the parking attendant sees the car arriving and passengers leaving the premises straight away, they will issue fines.
"I can recall the attendant on the day just starting his shift... We arrived and left the car to get some cash first.
"Are they allowed to fine us? It's ridiculous! Is anyone in the same situation?"
Trowbridge locals fumed in response to the image of the parking charge, with several saying they no longer used the car park after the restrictions were first imposed.
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A driver was told how they'd "left the site designated for customer parking only"
One wrote: "That is awful - it's like Big Brother is watching you... I don't park there full stop," while another said: "I never park there... Can't be bothered with all this risk of a fine!"
Others voiced concerns about the surveillance in the car park, with one saying: "Everyone joked about this... They were all laughing... They're watching you all like hawks."
Another jabbed: "I can't believe the number of people defending this really ridiculous system. It's a blatant money-making exercise.
"Needs a few days of action with boycotts and it will soon stop!"
But others laid the blame at the driver's door - one social media user said: "You left to get cash. You left the car park so they rightly fined you.
"Yes the rule is a bad one, but the rules have been known for few weeks now."
The rules had indeed been publicised in advance of the driver's actions - and were imposed a number of days before the incident.
They came as St Stephen's Place Leisure Park was bought out by French property magnates Iroko Zen for just over £11million - and included a parking charge bump to £100 - though it's not known whether that was at the behest of the new landlords.