Fury over 'faulty' payment machines at Watford car park

Users of the Gade Car Park in Rosslyn Road say that they are paying for parking using the machines on-site, only to receive fines days later.

The park, managed by CitiPark, only went cashless at the beginning of September - a move that at the time was branded "a joke".

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Customers say they are entering their registration numbers and bank cards to pay, only for the payment not to show up on their bank statements.

Some car park users have received fines even getting 'confirmation' they have paid.

James Kelly is among those who say they have been wrongly fined. (Image: James Kelly) James Kelly visited the car park on September 24 and has evidence of paying for his parking.

Despite this, he received a £100 penalty fare (reduced to £60 if paid within two weeks), a fine the semi-retired bricklayer from Garston describes as "unjust".

James Kelly says this bank statement provides proof that the Gade Car Park machines are faulty. (Image: James Kelly) He said: "A lot of people seem to be having similar problems and in my view its tantamount to theft."

James received this fine a week later. (Image: James Kelly) Maxine Sensi has also been affected by the apparent machine fault, receiving two £100 fines in the space of a fortnight.

She said: "The transaction's do not show on my card when I checked after receiving the penalties this week. I've used Gade plenty of times over the years, so I'm assuming something must be wrong."

A thread on community app Nextdoor has seen around a dozen residents sharing similar experiences.

One wrote: "I paid for parking with my debit card, and entered my car registration number, the payment was accepted and shows on my banking app. I still received a fine weeks later."

Another added: "My parents had the same issue twice, appealed and lost. They won’t park there anymore."

The Gade. (Image: Google Street View) The car park was one of three to go fully cashless last month, with the Sutton car park in Estcourt Road and the Church multi-storey car park in Exchange Road also requiring customers to pay for parking by card.

CitiPark has been contacted for comment.