Taxi Driver Online

Southend: Cabbies boycott flats after £160 fine row

Taxi drivers are refusing to pick up residents from a block of flats because they are worried about picking up a parking fine.

Southend cabbie Paul Sutton said word had spread among his colleagues to avoid Marks Court, off Southchurch Avenue, after a taxi driver was told last week he had been fined £160 for waiting for a customer in the car park.

Residents had hired enforcement firm Creative Car Parking to stop people who had no link to the flats, such as tourists or office workers, leaving their vehicles there.

The parking area is now supervised by CCTV and any unauthorised vehicles will be fined £160. This was not, however, supposed to apply to taxi drivers making short stops.

Mr Sutton said: "We have heard the fined driver may be let off this time but it's not worth the risk of stopping there.

Residents' spokesman Roger Exell said yesterday he had asked Creative Car Parking to drop the fine.

Wonder how a private company could actually implement the fine if the driver was capable of leaving the scene in the vehicle?

well some of these places have barriers on the exit, we have one such development one night stuck for 2 hours after dropping off

never again!

Original post said "Any unauthorised vehicles will be fined £160" How do you fine a vehicle ? Also, if the so-called residents of this property who have called in this company do not own the freehold rights to the vehicular access or car park they are on a sticky wicket. Any taxi or private hire operation should stick to their guns and boycott the area and make these numptys walk !!!!