Anger as 14 receive parking tickets at train station

Cars with parking tickets at Castleton Train Station

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Commuters, shoppers and business owners have been left furious after receiving parking tickets whilst parked at Castleton Train Station.

Fourteen tickets were issued by Northern Rail on Tuesday (19 April 2011) to cars which were not parked in marked bays on the car park.

Use of the station car park has increased because more people are boarding the train from Castleton, rather than Rochdale, because of the Metrolink works.

The number of spaces on the car park is limited, and drivers have parked on the right hand side of the car park for many years.

Signs displayed at the bottom of the car park, close to the train platform read: ‘Only park within marked bays and authorised parking areas.’

However, motorists say the signage at the bottom of the car park is no use to people parking at the top end – because they can’t see it.

Mark Foster, owner of the Bridge Chippy, was furious with the ticket issuing.

Mr Foster has used the car park for the past four and a half years and never had any problems.

He described the penalty of £50 as “scandalous.”

Mr Foster said: “There are no double yellows, nothing saying it is a private road. There are no signs at the top.

“Why don’t they make the top into bays?

"Why after all these years are they giving out tickets?

"We need spaces now more than ever.

"People in Castleton will be disgusted.”

Another motorist, who didn’t want to be named said: “I’m not happy. If there was a sign up then fine it’s my own fault, but there isn’t.”

One motorist showed Rochdale Online the ticket, which has been issued for “causing an obstruction” and for “not being parked in a designated area.”

The driver said the vehicle wasn’t causing any obstruction, and wasn’t on double yellow lines.

A Northern Rail spokesperson, said: "We are an approved car park operator, accredited by the British Parking Association and we have to adhere to their rules and regulations.

“We are now enforcing parking laws to ensure these are followed and in some places that will mean a change to the previous parking culture. The regulations are in place for a reason and we absolutely cannot find ourselves in a situation where there is an incident at the station and an emergency vehicle cannot gain access due to cars parked outside of the marked bays.

“Due to the closure of the Oldham route, Castleton has seen an increase in passenger numbers and we realise that finding a parking space can be a problem on some occasions.

“We will review the current signage at Castleton to make sure this is adequate and passengers have the right to appeal against any ticket they feel has been issued unfairly.

“We thank passengers for raising the issue, but we must ensure that there is clear access for emergency vehicles and that passengers cars are not obstructed as well."