A ‘NIGHTMARE’ parking fiasco has caused stress for scores of motorists who have been wrongly issued fines and court threats for parking in Northallerton.

The Alpha Dental Studio on Brompton Road contracted the services of Smart Parking Ltd last year to monitor their car park in a bid to stop non-patients from taking up the spaces.

In recent months the system, which requires dental patients to enter their registration number when they arrive for an appointment, has led to more than 80 motorists being wrongly fined.

The partners at Alpha say they are “incredibly frustrated” with the situation and have made repeated attempts to get patients’ fines overturned by Smart Parking.

Ian Gordon, a partner of the Alpha dental group, said that initially Smart Parking would overturn incorrectly issued fines, but in recent months they changed that policy and have been virtually non-contactable ever since.

The dental surgery has even drafted in a solicitor as well as contacting the British Parking Association and POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals) to try and resolve matters for those issued fines incorrectly.

Alpha has now cancelled its contract with Smart Parking and Mr Gordon described the situation as “an absolute nightmare”.

He added: “We are absolutely frustrated.

“We did it (controlled parking) with the best interests of our patients at heart and it has just backfired.”

Lynne Halls’ parents George and Joan Storey are among those who have wrongly received penalty notices of £100.

These were then followed up by debt recovery letters stating that the fine has risen to £160 with a recommendation that court action should be taken if not paid.

Mrs Halls, whose 70-year-old mother has a brain tumour, says the stress of the letters and court threats have been keeping her parents awake at night.

She said: “We have got letters absolutely petrifying them about going to court.

“I say ‘bring it on’ we have not done anything wrong.

“But my mum, instead of enjoying any time she has left, she is petrified of dad going to court.”

  • Despite repeated attempts to contact Smart Parking via telephone and email, nobody responded to our request for a comment.