Couple who were filling up at East Midlands Airport petrol station slapped with £60 parking fine
A COUPLE were hit with a £60 parking fine as they were filling up at East Midlands Airport petrol station.
Sharon and Geoffrey Palmer, both 69, had stopped off for petrol before being dropped off at the airport's rapid drop-off zone.
As Mr Palmer, from Beeston, was paying £20 for petrol, on July 11, Sharon wanted to double check she had packed her husband's medication in the suitcase so got out of the car to check the bag.
She believes CCTV footage filmed her leaving, and assumed she was being "dropped off" to head to the airport by foot.
And after returning from a week in Salou, she was left raging after being hit with a minimum £60 which could rise to £100 for "stopping in a zone where stopping is prohibited".
She is refusing to pay the notice, is now in the process of appealing it and wants to make others aware of how drivers are being "targeted" at the airport.
All I did was get out the car to check our bags for medication for my husband
Sharon Palmer
She told Nottinghamshire Live: "It's made me that angry that I almost feel like going and standing at the petrol station and saying 'do you know you will probably get fined for filling up here'.
"The thing is, I am all for abiding by the laws and if this is something where I was in the wrong I would say fair enough I will pay it.
"But I don't see how that is the case here. It's physically impossible to not pull over to put petrol in. All I did was get out the car to check our bags for medication for my husband."
The Palmer's plight comes after Nottinghamshire Live first reported a Clifton mum was fined for picking up her daughter while filling up with petrol at EMA.
Airport officials are stressing any driver who believes they have received a fine in error are entitled to challenge it. These are reviewed by the parking enforcement company on a case by case basis.
Drivers have also been banned from stopping next to busy roads near the airport.
Highways bosses are to declare the A453 near the airport and the new Castle Donington Relief Road as 'red routes'.
An East Midlands Airport spokesman would not comment on the specific case but said: "All drivers dropping off and collecting passengers at EMA should use the designated car parks and drop-off facilities.
"One hour’s free parking can be had in Long Stay 2, which is ideal for drivers collecting passengers, ten minutes parking in rapid drop off costs £3, while 30 minutes in short stay 1 car park is £4.
"Over 8,000 people are employed across the airport estate and thousands of passengers arrive and depart each day from the airport. Everyone who comes to the airport, needs to be safe.
"Controlling traffic flow on the roads throughout the site is key to ensuring people’s safety and enjoyment of visiting EMA."
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The spokesman added: "It is explicitly clear that the petrol station owners forbid drop offs and pick-ups.
They added there are signs on every pump and on walls and fences, which, in big red letters, reads: "Strictly no drop-offs or pick-up at the fuel pumps".
The enforcement of no waiting, parking, drop-offs, pick-ups on the petrol station forecourt is an arrangement between Vehicle Control Services Limited and the owners of the petrol station.
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