Drivers urging others not to get caught out on ‘Pay and Display’ rule at Navan carpark

A WOMAN has told of her anger after she was slapped with a €125 clamping fee in Navan despite paying for parking and wants to warn others not to get caught out.

Maria O Connor says she was "shocked" to come out of a relative’s birthday celebration in a nearby restaurant to find her car that was parked in the Foresters car park on Brews Hill clamped.

The Foresters car park is privately owned and not on council property, however, drivers are getting caught out due to confusion over the same management company operating both council and private parking. Maria says she wants to highlight the situation to prevent others being hit with a clamping fee.

"I have been using the car parking system in Navan for years now and have been using the APCOA App service that is all over Navan Town. It is so handy as I never carry cash."

"On Saturday May 13th I parked in the Foresters Car Park and used the APCOA App for parking as I have always done in the past.

"I paid for a ticket for two hours through the app service choosing Brews Hill as the location. I went to the China Garden and came back with a whole hour left on the ticket to find that I had been clamped!

"If that wasn't bad enough, they left us two hours waiting for the guy to come back to remove the clamp."

"We always use to park there and pay for parking using the app, putting Brews Hill in.

"It seems to catching loads of people out."

The mum-of-two appealed the decision but was refused a refund and says the system needs clarification in order to prevent well intentioned people from being hit with a hefty fee.

"I appealed the clamping fee straight away and they returned with a letter refusing saying that its cash only in that car park but there is no signage up to say please do not use our app service, that it is cash only. I appealed a second time citing that reason but my appeal was denied again.

"I was told if I was not happy with the decision I could go to the Vehicle clamping regulation under the National Transport Authority (NTA) so I appealed it a third time and I was still denied.

"€125 is a lot of money. It was an expensive Chinese that night and I thought I was doing the right thing."

Meath County Council said:

"The Foresters is privately owned by APCOA, we (Meath County Council ) do not patrol that car park."

A spokesperson for Apcoa said:

“Connect is not available for parking in Forrester’s car park. We will look at ways, including enhanced signage, with the owner of the car park to remind motorists of this."