Holidaymaker returns to find speeding ticket for 'parked' car

A holidaymaker has revealed his car was caught speeding while it was left with a parking company near Gatwick Airport.

Chris Lynch, 20, from Dorset, also said there was 150 miles extra on the clock.

See also: Airport parking company leaves cars in random streets

See also: Gatwick Airport parking company's advert banned

He paid £76.94 to leave the car with Blue Star Parking by the airport while he flew off for a holiday in Greece with his girlfriend.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Mr Lynch, of Poole, Dorset, said he noticed something was wrong around 15 minutes into the drive back home to Poole.

He said: "I found an empty Sapphire Blue cigarette pack and also noticed an Asda pay and display parking ticket that was marked for 9 July so they had clearly decided to use my car for a joyride.

"I then noticed the petrol was low and I had at least 150 miles extra on the clock."

Then, a few days later, Mr Lynch received a letter from Sussex Police telling him that he had been reported for driving his Vauxhall Corsa at 37mph in a 30mph zone on a date that he was still on holiday.

Sussex Police voided the warning letter after seeing evidence of Mr Lynch's holiday photos.

Mr Lynch supplied a number for Blue Star Parking to the BBC. When the organisation called, the person who answered said it was no longer operating under that name and closed eight months ago.

West Sussex County Council said there were around 500 other complaints about meet-and-greet parking near Gatwick.

Speaking to the BBC, Councillor David Barling said: "We have four investigations running separately at the moment in conjunction with Sussex Police and planning authorities. This seems to have been a phenomena since May."


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