IRATE residents have spoken out against “unjust” parking fines at a shopping centre in Yate.

The 1,200-space car park at Yate Shopping Centre, which sees 8,000 vehicles each day, imposes a four-hour limit per visit, with cameras mounted at each entrance to record who goes in and out.

Centre managers say the measures are in place to ensure spaces are used by town centre visitors only, and allow a quick turnover to accommodate more customers.

But some people say the restrictions are not necessary, and the fines imposed by UK Parking Control (UKPC) cause more problems than they solve.

Robert Eastland, 74, was issued with an £80 fine on September 14 after he forgot to put his disabled blue badge in the window of his car as he went to collect a prescription.

He wrote to UKPC to explain that his badge had been in the car but, as he had been preparing to travel to his mother’s funeral the following day, he had forgotten to display it.

After receiving a second letter to say he had to pay the fine or risk being taken to court, Mr Eastland and his wife Rosalind, from Chipping Sodbury, gave in and paid.

Mrs Eastland said: “We apologised and said that while he had not put up his badge, we would send a photocopy of the badge and a copy of the funeral service sheet as evidence, but they still refused to waive the fine.

“This felt incredibly callous with no sign of humanity as he was obviously already in an unpleasant situation and his head was all over the place.”

Mrs Eastland said the threat of fines could prevent some people from using the shopping centre altogether.

“If they are trying to get people to enjoy their time there, whether going out for a meal, to the cinema or for a big shop, they don’t want to be keeping an eye on the clock,” she said.

“If you end up waiting in a long line for something, or you get held up, that will cause a great deal of worry.”

Sodbury town councillor Andy Williams raised his concerns over the monitoring system at the car park, labelling the fines “a scam” during a recent council meeting.

“They are not doing a good enough job in monitoring the entrances and exits and it is unfairly catching people out,” he said. “It happened to us when my son went in around lunchtime for 20 minutes, left to go back to work and then went back for a similar time in the evening. He got a letter and a fine for apparently parking there for six hours.

“You get plenty of older and vulnerable people using the car park and if they get caught out, they will no doubt be terrified by the threatening letters.”

Andrew Lowrey, Yate Shopping Centre manager, said: “The car parks are managed by an external car park management company and charges, which are common in private car parks across the UK, are issued for breaches such as overstaying and parking in disabled spaces without displaying the blue badge.”

He added: “Customers that have a query relating to a parking charge can contact the car park management company, details of which can be found on the back of the charge notice, or contact the centre management team who will assist with the appeal process.”

Nobody from UK Parking Control was available to comment when contacted by the Gazette.