A controversial Darlington car park has been slammed by customers and nearby businesses after dishing out hefty fines for “incredibly minor indiscretions.”

Feethams Leisure, the underground car park beneath the DL1 retail development, run by Excel Parking, has been branded a “consistent problem” by furious locals.

Allegations have been levelled at the parking firm about their five-minute time limit – where customers have to buy a ticket within five minutes of entering the car park.

Failure to comply with this limit has landed many with steep Parking Charge Notices (PCNs), which often start at £100.  

(Image: The Northern Echo) Darlington's former MP, Peter Gibson, has been left angry at the car parks five minute time limit policy, 

Nearby businesses, including the Woolen Mill, Nando's, and Tomahawk Steakhouse, have said that staff are struggling, and believe that issues with the car park are reducing foot traffic to their restaurants and the rest of Darlington.

Darlington’s most recent MP, Peter Gibson, has been in correspondence with the company since complaints about Excel Parking started to trickle in last year.

But he has been left “incredibly disappointed” by their response, as he thinks they have “tried to absolve themselves of any responsibility”.

Excel dragged Chris Davies, from Darlington to county court last month after he refused to pay a PCN levied at him by the parking chain.

His wife had paid to use the car park in September last year, whilst taking their young, autistic son into town.

(Image: The Northern Echo) A ticket machine was found to be broken this week.

Chris said: “My wife had paid for more time than she needed, but because she wasn’t well, and it took her 15 minutes rather than five to buy the ticket, she was told she had to pay £100 – it was just totally unfair.

“My son has autism and my wife has health anxiety so when they refused the appeal, and sent out threatening letters, it really, really annoyed me.

“[Excel Parking] took me to small claims court – but the judge dismissed it. In the end, when we went to court, they wanted £260.”

Representing himself in court, Chris told the judge that the parking charge notice violated the Inequalities Act, and principles from contract law.

Chris added: “The judge dismissed the fine and said that the expectation to pay within five minutes wasn’t achievable or fair.”

“The five-minute time limit sets people up to fail, and [Parking Charge Notices] are just a way to legally get more and more money out of people. It's a cowboy car park.”

“People are scared of being taken to court, but they should know that they can stand up for themselves and win.”

Speaking to The Northern Echo, former MP Peter Gibson said that the time limit was “ridiculous” and noted that his office had received around 30 complaints since October last year.

He said: “It is so easy to exceed five minutes - if you don’t have change; if you have issues with your internet connection; if you have to download the app; if the machine is broken; if you have mobility issues or small children – the rule is unfairly catching people out.”

Mr Gibson has appealed for residents and people visiting Darlington to use nearby council-run car parks – Feethams and the Cornmill multi-storey car park – instead of the car park at DL1.

Whilst the Echo visited the car park with Mr Gibson, one of the car park’s machines was out of order.

Businesses in Darlington have added their worries about the impact problems with parking could be having on the town.

Tyler Corpse, the general manager at Tomahawk Steakhouse, said: “Staff, including myself, completely refuse to use [Excel Parking].

“Even if you have receipts of your tickets, they don’t accept this when in the appeal process.  

“This is all because they allow a very swift timer upon entering to purchase your ticket, if you fail to do it within seconds of this time, they will issue with a fine and in my personal case eventually a CCJ.

“I have one staff member who has almost 50 fines from the years that she has worked here, she has receipts for every single one and is awaiting court dates for each one of them.

“The team and I advise customers not to park below our unit - we typically inform them to park in the multi-storey across the road.

“This certainly does cause inconvenience for us and our customers.”

Sammi Cropper, the general manager at The Woolen Mill, said that her staff are “essentially paying to come to work”, and believed that the car park is a major contributor to the lack of footfall on the Feethams complex.

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Similarly, staff at Nando’s have said that they have received many fines and noted a decrease in sales.

The manager at the branch said: “We have seen a decrease in our takeaways especially, as there is nowhere to park for people to collect their meals.”

Excel Parking, and their commercial director Alun Cockcroft did not respond to requests for comment, nor did they answer questions about the proportion of their profit that comes from the payment of PCNs.