A councillor has called for a review of night-time parking in Perth city centre after he fell foul of a controversial car park operator.
Henry Anderson said he is refusing to pay a £60 penalty for using Smart Parking’s busy Mill Street site.
The SNP councillor, who represents the Almond and Earn ward, accepts that he stayed longer than his allotted four hours when he parked up for a night at Perth Concert Hall.
But he has decided to take a stand against Smart Parking and is calling for a change of rules to allow more relaxed parking during the evening.
He said four-hour restrictions could discourage motorists from coming into the city centre at nights.
“I don’t use Smart Parking sites if I can help it,” he said.
“But my wife had recently fallen and hurt her leg, so I wanted to park as close to the concert hall as I could.
“I paid for four hours, but we ended up being later than we thought. In the end, we were about 40 minutes over our allocated time.”
He added: “I got a £60 penalty from Smart Parking and appealed it, but lost.
“I said I would be happy to pay the extra pound or two for the time I was over, but not the full £60.”
If Mr Anderson refuses to pay it, the fine could rise to £100.
The councillor continued: “I can understand that there’s a need for a four-hour limit during the day when people are coming and going to the shops, but it doesn’t make sense to have it in the evening as well.
“It’s going to put people off coming into the city centre for a meal or a show if there’s a worry that they are going to get a parking ticket.
“With the new Perth Theatre coming soon and other improvements on the way, we need to be encouraging people into this area, not discouraging them.”
Last night, a Smart Parking spokesman said: “Mr Anderson decided to use our car park and openly admits he knew it has a maximum stay of four hours.
“Despite this he stayed for four hours and 40 minutes. We respectfully suggest it is not surprising that he received a charge in those circumstances.”
He added: “Ultimately by using our car park Mr Anderson accepted our legal terms and conditions; remember he could have simply parked somewhere else and on somebody else’s property.
“There are a number of parking solutions in Perth, and for instance our Kinnoull Street car park is only a short distance away and has a maximum stay of eight hours.”
Smart Parking has been widely criticised by politicians and motorists for an “overly complicated” new payment system at its main Kinnoull Street multi-storey facility.