Worst reviewed car parks in Northern Lincolnshire

From being approached by ‘ladies of the night’ to getting your car locked in until the next day, there is plenty that can go wrong in car parks.

Motorists have taken to the internet to share their horror stories about what has happened when they’ve left their vehicles.

Google Reviews has become a Tripadvisor for car parks.

There are common complaints about the price of parking, lack of spaces and machines that you need a Masters degree to figure out.

Some will also make you think twice about leaving the house – one woman has also shared her story about having to wait half an hour just to get a ticket.

Here are what people thought about Grimsby, Cleethorpes and Scunthorpe’s car parks.

NCP Abbey Walk car park, Grimsby – 2.7

This only has a handful of reviews, but the lowest one has a woman share her horror after her car was unexpectedly locked inside.

“Your website says it is open 24 hours so imagine my dismay when I returned to get the car to find it in total darkness and the gates shut and bolted with my husband’s mobility scooter locked in the boot causing much distress as we had to get taxi back to the hotel.”

Lakeside Car Park – 3.3

One motorist had an “absolute ordeal” at the Cleethorpes car park, taking 30 minutes to pay for parking.

The one-star review says: “An absolute ordeal today. Packed due to hot weather. Queued over half an hour to pay for parking. And the machine is complicated. Please install machines that you can use an online parking app.”

The moral of the story seems to be to turn up early on busy days.

Cartergate car park – 3.9

This Grimsby town centre car park has received top marks from users for “reasonable prices” and being “handy for shopping”. One person said spots were often taken up by permit holders, so you had to get there early.

Another added: “No wonder people prefer going to shopping centres out of town with plenty of parking which is invariably free.”

Parishes Multi-storey car park, Scunthorpe – 3.9

For most people, it got points for the two hours’ free parking and easy accessibility to the town centre shops. But one driver has described a distinct odour of urine, and said he wished it had attendants.

“Now unmanned, kids running about, unclean stairwells, smells of wee. Used to be nicest safest car park in town, but now unmanned.” He said in a one-star review. “Not a great idea!”

Cleethorpes beach parking – 4.2

If you’re heading to the beach, you will probably park up in these spots on the promenade. Most of the reviews are positive, although its popularity may work against it. One warns “Plenty of spaces but you need to fall lucky finding a space to park here.”

Grant Street car park – 4.3

The current facilities on Grant Street are popular, but they’re likely to get even more so now a multi-storey extension has been approved. Work on the £3.5million upgrade is likely to begin after the summer season.

A five-star review says “Decent value and cheaper than on the front.”

However, another docked a star because “ticket machine is a little overwhelming for first time users, a guide to use would be an advantage. The people in the queue before me took an average of 5 mins to work out the sequence.”

West Street Car Park, Scunthorpe – 4.0

A patron using the car park at midday described it as “pleasant enough” despite an unexpected visitor.

“Apart from the knock on my window from a lady of the night, even though this was dinner time, I kid you not! Asking if I want business. Then the car park is pleasant enough.”

Freshney Place multi-storey car park – 3.6

One of Grimsby’s biggest car parks is generally well-liked by users, although one person gave it one-star for being “disabled unfriendly”. They said there were no lifts or disabled parking bays that were accessible without stairs.

Bizarrely, one person who gave three stars said “Don’t know as don’t use the car park.” Just want you want to hear from reviewers!

Duchess Street car park – 4.2

This is one of the top-rated in the area – but most seem to be reviewing it for the Covid testing facilities rather than parking.

One said: “Staff were very good at making my wife feel at ease”, and another said it was easy to get to for testing.