Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers 'are being fined £200 for picking up passengers at Cheltenham Railway Station'

They say they keep being caught out by the automatic numberplate recognition system

Taxi drivers Pete Ballinger and Neil Harvey outside Cheltenham Railway Station.

Taxi drivers allegedly face hundreds of pounds in fines because they keep being charged for dropping off and picking up people at Cheltenham Railway Station.

Three drivers from Andy Cars in Cheltenham are facing fines which could top £600 between them.

They say they keep being caught out by the automatic numberplate recognition system which is in place at the station which charges motorists who stay there longer than 20 minutes.

Each of them have received fines of £100, which would rise to £200 if they were not promptly paid.

But the cabbies say they are only staying in the car park for a few minutes while they pick up and collect customers - and their on-board computers can prove it.

He said: "If that's the case that means we can't pick up and drop off at the station, and that can't be right. If you want to pick up a disabled person you want to stop as near to the station as you can.

"It's our livelihoods, it's our jobs. We go there every single day. I can go there five times a day myself.

"It's very frustrating. Now they're reluctant to do drop offs just in case they get fined."

ANPR systems use cameras to capture images of the vehicle and the licence plate on their arrival and when they leave the car park to calculate whether a motorist is liable for a fine.

A spokesman for APCOA said: "The ANPR system provides 20 minutes of free parking for dropping off and picking up passengers. We cannot comment on individual cases without further details.”

APCOA have been contacted for further comment.

source: http://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/ne ... ned-164525

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Buy one of them automatic number plate covers, a press of a button and the number plate is covered.

Or CCTV to confirm your innocence.

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IDFIMH

The Registered Keepers are receiving the 'fines.' There is no way APCOA can identify the driver through ANPR. They don't comply with sched 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. If they did, the land is probably subject to Railway Byelaws and outside the scope of PoFA. Railway byelaws purport to make the driver liable, who cannot be identified. Ergo, fun to be had culminating in no charge. However, they must go through the procedure to get a decision from the ATA or court.

To repeat what's been said before thousands of times on Pepipoo, private companies CANNOT issue fines. What they issue are unenforceable invoices. I'd suggest any cabbies who receive one of those invoices go to Pepipoo for advice.

So far I've had 2 "penalty charge" invoices at Ashford station from ACPOA, challenged both of them on the basis that they are not issued under the Railways bye-laws or under POFA and have heard nothing since! Don't get ripped off by ignorance.