Our car was pinned while parked at the NET Forest tram park in Nottingham and we had to pay £140 to free it.
Prominent signs at the entrance state that parking without the use of the tram will be closed. We took the tram to and from the city center after walking through the nearby park.
It was the law enforcement officer who pointed out the writing on the back of the entrance sign, which said in small print that drivers needed to buy a ticket upon arrival. We filed an appeal citing inappropriate evidence, but the appeal was rejected.
RB, Nottingham
I've studied photographs of the various signs and it appears that the requirement to buy a tram ticket on arrival is mentioned in small print somewhere down on the little green posters scattered around the huge site. The big red signs, visible to everyone, simply say that car park users must use the tram – which is what you did.
The Q&A brochure for this site also does not mention this important caveat. In any case, the £140 fine seems excessive given that drivers breaking parking restrictions in other parts of the city will be fined £50, which is halved if paid on time.
Clamping was outlawed on private land across the country in 2012, but Nottingham's parks and attractions are owned by the local authority, which awarded Nottingham Tramlink a private finance initiative contract to operate them alongside the tram service. Local authorities may still use clips.
Legislative guidance from the Department for Transport (DfT) states that they should only be used in limited circumstances for repeat offenders or failure to pay a previous fine.
The guidance also states that they must be proportionate and reasonable. However, councils are allowed to develop location-specific by-laws, setting their own parking rules and fines. Once these by-laws are approved by the DfT, they and their contractors will be able to enforce them without reference to the guidance.
Nottingham City Council has confirmed that its approved by-laws allow vehicles to be stopped to allow Nottingham Tramlink to stop.
At the same time, the question remains about the signs that must be clear and unambiguous for coercive measures to be valid.
Tramlink chief executive Tim Hesketh insists the instructions are “clearly visible”. He said the release fee of £140 is set and retained by the private law enforcement company it is contracted with.
He adds: “The option of amending the bylaws to allow for the introduction of parking or fine notices has already been carefully considered by Tramlink before deciding on our current process, which we believe is most suitable for this purpose.”
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