Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Private parking firms showing ‘gung-ho attitude’ in pursuing drivers

Tension between drivers and private parking firms is said to be increasing.
Tension between drivers and private parking firms is said to be increasing.

Nearly 400 motorists from across Tayside have sought advice after being landed with charge notices from private parking companies in the last year.

And many of them have been threatened with court action by debt collectors for not handing over their cash.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) said it was approached by 370 people at its Tayside branches who were having issues with private parking firms.

Research from the organisation found a number of those people had been threatened with court action by debt collectors hired to pursue drivers who do not cough up.

One Dundee lawyer said the situation in the city is as bad as he has ever seen it.

Fraser Sutherland, the consumer spokesman for CAS, said: “Self-regulation in the industry is not working, and many car-parking firms are flouting their own regulations with a gung-ho attitude of simply collecting as much as possible from drivers.

“Citizens Advice Scotland will continue its campaign for better controls on private parking companies to ensure that they comply with consumer protection regulations.

“We also urge consumers to contact us for advice if they feel they have been unfairly treated by a private car park or if they have received one of these debt collection letters.”

Dundee solicitor Gary McIlravey, who said he had taken on several cases relating to private parking charges in the last year, said the debt collectors’ letters are a “red herring” to frighten people into paying.

He said: “The issue with private parking fines in the city is the worst I have ever seen.

“When court action is threatened through these letters, there has to be a court order but most of the time these debt companies don’t necessarily have one.

“The letters are a bit of a red herring they are there to try to frighten people into paying the fine.

“It’s the parking company who can take the matter to court, so it is always useful to seek legal advice before deciding to argue against the fine or simply not pay the fine.”