The resident has been issued with six parking fines, totalling between £360 or £600, depending on when they are paid
A woman who has been issued with six fines for parking on her housing estate says she is considering selling her car because of the “unfair” fines.
Nadia Mullins-Hills, 37, lives in Trumpington on the Aura Development in the Long Road area of Cambridge. She has lived here since June 2024 but didn’t start receiving parking fines until January this year. She’s been issued with six parking fines so far.
Nadia said that she was either parked in one of the designated parking spots, or ‘laybys’ next to the pavement. She claims that there are no obvious signs prohibiting parking in these areas. She was later told that she had to park within a visitor marked spot when she receieved the fines.
Nadia said: “There are 37 houses just in our postcode, and we have four visitor’s parking spots.”
One of her six fines, she said was likely to have been when an event or club was taking place at the nearby school. She said parking is “severely impacted while there are visitors to the school”.
Nadia added: “It is impossible to see clearly as the images are so dark, and I expect my car was actually parked in the correct bay.”
A spokesperson for Bridge Parking & Asset Management (BPAM) which is the parking company who issued the fines said: “PCN’s may be issued to a vehicle for parking not in accordance with the displayed terms and parked in the same location every 24 hours. If that vehicle has been in breach of these terms, then a PCN could be issued everyday if seen at the time of event of a patrol staff member.”
In one week, Nadia said that she received three fines at once, two of which were on consecutive days. She has now been issued with six parking fines, totalling between £360 or £600, depending on when they are paid.
Nadia has appealed and made complaints about the fines, as she believes them to be unfair. She has found the situation “extremely stressful”, and said that she is anxious to travel by car to and from her own home because she is concerned about receiving another fine when she returns.
She has reached out to MP Daniel Zeichner about her situation. MP Zeichner said: “After Ms Mullins‑Hills approached me about her situation, I contacted the parking company in question to raise the concerns she highlighted and to ask that they review the circumstances in full. I recognise the worry this has caused her, and I will continue to stay in touch with her while the issue remains unresolved.”
A spokesperson for BPAM added: “PCN’s would only be issued to vehicles parking outside of the displayed terms and conditions.”
Nadia said: “I am actually considering selling my car, because I haven’t got an option.”
Nadia said she left her car in a designated spot for a week because she “can’t run the risk of coming back and not being able to park anywhere”.
In response to these claims, BPAM added: “Bridge Parking & Asset Management (BPAM) only operate on private land and under the current code of practice issued by the BPA. We are audited to ensure compliance is maintained and only issue PCN’s in a fair and precise manner.”
Nadia is now unsure as to when the fine needs to be paid as her appeal has been rejected, but the PCN still showing as being in appeal status.
BPAM explained that when an appeal is logged, the case will be on hold until the appeal has been read and reacted to. From this point forward if the appeal is rejected, the company offers a further discounted period offering a further 14 days to pay the reduced fee of £60.
Alternatively, the appellant can choose to log an appeal with the parking ombudsmen POPLA.