Local Democracy Weekly: Why this election is important for Lincoln and Lincolnshire

More frustrated drivers have come forward with their stories of bogus fines at a Lincoln retail park — and when The Lincolnite asked the parking warden to explain the situation, he said he was “not allowed to comment”.

The Lincolnite has reported about the issues at Tritton Road Retail Park for over six years, and dodgy activity was previously uncovered, such as rule changes without warning and attendants encouraged to ‘bend the rules’ for bonuses at the car park operated by UK Parking Control (UKPC) Ltd.

We went back to the car park on Friday and tried to speak with the parking attendant directly, so UKPC — who ignored all media requests — could present their side of the story, but he said he was “not allowed” to speak to us.

Two people recently came forward after receiving parking fines which they claim are bogus. This prompted more frustrated shoppers to contact The Lincolnite to share their experiences – if you are fined, it is advised not to automatically pay it straight away – see useful advice here from MoneySavingExpert.

Jo Chambers went out shopping to Homesense with her partner on July 18 for her new home in Waddington Heath. However, when they returned to her car they were confronted by a ticket stating “vehicle owner/driver left the site”.

After appealing the fine, it was rescinded and Jo received a letter of apology, but she still wanted to raise awareness to others about the issue.

The letter from UKPC’s Appeals Department states: “We understand your frustration and appreciate the inconvenience this has caused you. It is not our intention to cause undue worry and frustration when enforcing our clients’ terms and conditions of parking.

“We have investigated your appeal based on the information submitted and whilst we feel that the parking charge was correctly issued and that we were following the guidelines and enforcement controls agreed with our client, we have decided in this instance to cancel the parking charge as a gesture of goodwill.”

Jo told The Lincolnite: “The letter of apology was a joke, stating the employee was in his every right to issue the fine, but as a gesture of goodwill they would rescind the fine, not taking any liability whatsoever.

“Surely the shops and council should confront this scam. We will not park and shop there unless we are on foot now, and if we do we take photos as evidence, which we shouldn’t need to.

“It’s the older vulnerable generation that I’m more concerned about as they are likely to panic and just pay it.”

Another driver, who wished to remain anonymous, received a ticket on September 29, stating “vehicle owner/driver left the site,” but he said: “I parked my car and did some browsing in Halfords, following by some shopping in Home Bargains, and then came (back) to a ticket on my window.

“I have emailed them twice with proof of what I did that day and got nothing back. It’s been over two weeks so I paid the £60 rather than the £100, with a follow-up email about it, but still have nothing back.”

After receiving a ticket on October 5 stating “not parked correctly within the markings of the bay or space”, another driver said: “It had no markings saying I couldn’t park there or no double yellow lines.”

Car park needs to be bigger, says retailer

The Lincolnite tried to get the perspective of retailers in the area.

Staff at ScS said they get customers in every now and again with a car parking issue and try to support them where they can.

The staff said: “There needs to be extra car parking in the area, as well as in the retail park, or the flexibility to go off site. The wardens are doing a good job.

“People shouldn’t be going off site, but ultimately this car park isn’t big enough for the retailers and customers.”

There was nobody available to provide a comment at Homesense, Halfords, Pets at Home, Carpet Right, Oak Furnitureland or Smyths Toys.

UKPC Ltd

Every time The Lincolnite has approached UKPC for a statement, there has been virtually no response, including on Monday and Tuesdays October 11 and 12. The only automated response came after also contacting the complaints email, saying: “Please be advised we have received your appeal. Please allow up to 35 days for a response.”

We went to the car park on Tuesday, October 12 and, whilst there, another man received a fine — but no attendant was to be seen. They appear to stay covert in their unmarked cars in order to avoid confrontation with shoppers.

Although an attendant did confirm to the reporter that he was from UKPC on Friday, October 15, he claimed he was “not allowed to comment” and advised contacting the company via the website.

In addition, when you try to phone the company and choose from the various different options, an automated voice informs you that it cannot be dealt with on the phone, and appeals must be made in writing.

UKPC says “we pride ourselves to alleviate your parking difficulties”, but we, and many customers, have struggled to get an official reply from them.

The firm is run by Rupert and Amanda Williams, who enjoy a luxury lifestyle and a string of fancy cars, according to The Mirror. The Mirror also reported last year that the parking firm claims taxpayer cash despite making £1.3 million profit in 2019.

If you have encountered an issue at this car park, please contact us at [email protected] with as many details and evidence as possible.

Not a new problem

In November 2018, residents said they were planning to boycott the car park after they introduced new £100 fines for “leaving the site”.

Drivers at the time said they had not been warned about the change of rules, except for a small yellow notice on the signs at the car park.

Earlier the same year, in April 2018, it was reported that UK Parking Control was fined almost £6,000 for refusing to provide CCTV footage from a Lincoln car park that would have helped an investigation into fly-tipping.

The car park’s operator UKPC was also embroiled in a scandal in 2015 where drivers appealed against fraudulent parking tickets after revelations from The Lincolnite.

A former warden previously told The Lincolnite in 2015 how attendants were encouraged to ‘bend the rules’ for bonuses.

More than 9,000 bins have been rejected by a Lincolnshire council so far this week as authorities clamp down on what can and can’t be recycled.

North Kesteven District Council’s recent introduction of a purple bin for dry and clean paper and cardboard has caused confusion with nearly 20% of green bins – meant for plastic bottles and cans – not emptied by refuse collectors, in the second collection since the scheme started.

Residents have hit out at the amount of rubbish left behind and the council’s strict rules – with some even resorting to abuse of the refuse collectors – but NKDC bosses say recycling contamination is “undermining” their efforts and that advice is being offered to residents who break the rules.

Here’s the breakdown of collections this week so far:

• Monday – 1,864 rejected (19% of bins presented)
• Tuesday – 2,279 rejected (19.5%)
• Wednesday – 2,651 rejected (23%)
• Thursday – 2,320 rejected (21%)

Lynda Somers took to North Hykeham Community Page to write: “The straw that broke the camel’s back… I am so meticulous in my recycling but bin not emptied to day. I want to dump it all and the two bins at the [NKDC] office. I will no longer recycle, I’m going to order a big black bin.”

And her sentiments were echoed by several others.

Others took a lighter approach, with Daryl James writing: “Just heard there will be public floggings held at the North Hykeham Village Green Saturday morning for all of the naughty folk that didn’t obey the strict green bin protocols… please bring your tag of shame so it can warrant how many floggings you will receive.”

In the first purple bin collection week, which ran from September 27, just 1.5% of bins were rejected.

A spokesman for North Kesteven District Council emphasised that what can and can’t be recycled hadn’t changed, just where it went.

Council leader, Councillor Richard Wright, said: “Contamination is an issue which is increasingly impacting on how much can be recycled and undermining all the efforts our households are making on their recycling at home.

“The only way to stop this is by everyone taking responsibility for our waste, by making sure only the right thing goes into the right bin.”

He said the council had been communicating with residents on the new rules since July.

“We never want to leave a bin unemptied unless it’s really necessary,” he added.

“The wrong things regularly found in green-lidded bins – from soft plastics such as film lids and carrier bags to other items such as kitchen roll and used tissues, takeaway containers and even dirty nappies – can’t be recycled and contaminate other good recycling in bins and even the lorry load itself.

“This results in not only increased sorting costs but less items recycled as residents expect them to be,” he said.

Lincolnshire Police are appealing for witnesses following a suspected gas explosion at a property in Waterworks Street in Gainsborough.

Officers were called to reports of an explosion at the property at 4.45pm on Friday.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue and utility services attended the incident and the property has been secured by the services.

Nobody has been injured, and no neighbouring properties have been affected.

Police will remain on scene overnight while enquiries are carried out.

If you have any information about the incident or have dashcam, phone, or CCTV footage which could help, please contact police.

There are a number of ways to get in touch:

• By clicking on the email link [email protected] and putting incident 328 of the 15 October in the subject box.
• Via our non-emergency number 101, quoting incident 328 of the 15 October.
• Through the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

Improvement works at the A17 Holdingham Roundabout are on track to be completed by the end of the year, Lincolnshire County Council promised, as final touches are added to the road development scheme.

The project to widen Holdingham Roundabout and reduce congestion in the area began in February, with a view to completing the roadworks and reopening the roundabout this December.

It is still on track to be completed within this time frame, weather permitting, after all but one of the roundabout’s legs were resurfaced.

Remaining works will now see new traffic signals installed at the roundabout, as well as new drainage, street lights, kerning and traffic monitoring cameras, as well as a new footway.

The £8.25 million A17 Holdingham Roundabout scheme, alongside the A17/A153 Rugby Club junction development, has been funded by North Kesteven District Council, Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Lincolnshire County Council and development contributors.

As part of the next stage of works, the B1518 Sleaford will close overnight for five evenings, starting Monday, November 1, lasting between 7.30pm and 5.30am.

The diversion route for this closure will be via the B1517 / A15 North and vice versa.

Cllr Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “Our works to Holdingham Roundabout are going incredibly well – and, if the weather agrees with us, we’ll have it fully back open, before Christmas with the new traffic signals in operation.

“Recently, Eurovia has finished laying new road surfacing at all of the roundabout’s legs, apart from one.

“The only leg left to do is the B1518 Sleaford, which was pushed back slightly due to wet weather. Instead, we’re now planning to finish surfacing this area overnight during the first week of November.

“We’ve also identified some additional sections of the A15 Bourne leg that need to be surfaced, so the team will also be coming back overnight in the coming weeks to carry out that work, dates to be confirmed.”

Mr Davies continues: “Once fully re-opened, people traveling in and around Sleaford should experience safer, smoother journeys and shorter travel times – something that will benefit tens of thousands of people each day.”

There have been 4,075 cases of coronavirus so far this week in Greater Lincolnshire as further investigations are launched into a testing lab which could have wrongly told 43,000 people their tests were negative.

The figure is 12.2% higher than the 3,578 cases at the same point last week. There have been 1,599 new cases since Wednesday evening’s figures.

The latest government data also shows there have been 12 deaths of Lincolnshire residents – up from seven last week – and six deaths reported at Greater Lincolnshire’s hospitals – the same as last week.

Since Wednesday’s figures, the latest COVID stats for Lincolnshire are:

• 1,599 new cases of coronavirus in Greater Lincolnshire with 1,235 in Lincolnshire, 159 in North East Lincolnshire and 205 in North Lincolnshire
• Five further deaths were recorded in the government figures including three Lincolnshire, one North East Lincolnshire and one North Lincolnshire residents
• Hospital data showed two further deaths with one at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole Hospitals Trust

In other news, a testing centre in Wolverhampton has been suspended after an investigation by NHS Test and Trace found that 43,000 people in England and Wales may have been falsely told there COVID-19 tests were negative.

Further investigations are taking place to find out why it took so long to identify the failures at the private laboratory which were sparked by concerns when people had positive lateral flow tests, but negative follow-up PCR results from the lab between September 8 and October 12 this year.

All samples from the lab, where Immensa Health Clinic Ltd runs the testing operations, are now being sent to other labs.

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Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Friday, October 15

126,349 cases (up 1,599 since Wednesday)

• 83,377 in Lincolnshire (up 1,235)
• 20,908 in North Lincolnshire (up 205)
• 22,064 in North East Lincolnshire (up 159)

2,373 deaths (up five)

• 1,736 from Lincolnshire (up three)
• 325 from North Lincolnshire (up one)
• 312 from North East Lincolnshire (up one)

of which 1,426 hospital deaths (up two)

• 875 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up one)
• 44 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
• 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
• 506 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up one)

DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF THE LATEST UPDATE. POSTCODE DATA INCLUDES DEATHS NOT IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES OR IN HOSPITALS OUTSIDE AUTHORITY BOUNDARIES.