A LAUNCESTON Cornwall Councillor has been helping local residents appeal against parking fines, after users have been accused of staying overnight in the town’s retail park car park.

The truth is that users have been there on two separate occasions, which has been missed by the car park’s security system.

Cllr Jade Farrington, Cornwall Councillor for Launceston South, has been helping those wrongly accused.

She explained: “A number of users of Launceston retail park have been experiencing problems with ParkingEye’s cameras recording two separate visits as a single long one and issuing them with fines.

“When number plates are dirty, or two cars exit very close together, one of the number plates is hidden from the cameras. If someone visits again the next day, the cameras see this as the end of a single visit. There is a three-hour time limit at the retail park, so it looks like this has been exceeded.”

Previous owners, London Metric, put Launceston Retail Park up for sale at a price of £21.9 million, and it was purchased by Plymouth City Council in September 2018.

The problem pre-dates Plymouth City Council’s involvement and Cllr Farrington said it wouldn’t be fair to blame them.

She met with the Devon-based council, and with Savills, who carry out day-to-day management to discuss the problems.

She said: “They are asking ParkingEye to install a second set of cameras, or relocate the existing ones, to try to resolve this problem.

“In the meantime I am continuing to help drivers to get their fines cancelled where they have been wrongly caught up in this.”

A spokesperson for Plymouth City Council said: “As a responsible landlord we are carrying out a review of the park to make sure that the parking facilities best serve the tenants of the park and their customers. We are in discussions with them and the company who will manage the estate on our behalf on how we can improve the offer.”

Plymouth City Council purchased the retail park in Launceston as part of its property investment activities. With less fund coming from central Government, councils are looking at other sources of income, which is why they chose to purchase the site in North Cornwall.

Plymouth City Council is already a landlord of a significant amount of commercial property and according to them, have a good track record in maximising returns from its estate.

They said: “The council has an investment portfolio worth over £200 million. Every year an average of circa £15 million worth of rent comes into the authority to help fund front line services, from properties which range from small shops and retail parks to industrial estates. The estate provides and safeguards valuable employment accommodation supporting jobs and business growth.”