Banbury mother fights to overturn £680 fine after Spiceball car park sign 'mix up'

Mother Lisa Bushby quit her job to become a full-time carer for her six-year-old autistic son after he was excluded from school.

While not attending school and waiting for a placement at a special school, Lisa started taking her son to the leisure centre for swimming.

However, last November, after they had visited the centre six times, Lisa was horrified to receive parking tickets for £680 from Smart Parking, who operate the car park for the leisure centre.

Lisa said: “When I parked at the centre, I noticed a sign telling visitors to enter their registration into a tablet provided. I looked around the car park and couldn’t see anything, so I just put my son’s blue badge in the window screen and went swimming.

"I continued to do this for six sessions, until I started to get tickets, at which point I went into the Spiceball for an explanation, and they informed me I was supposed to bring my blue badge to the reception and enter my registration into an iPad, which is stored under the reception desk.”

Lisa believes the information on the signs in the car park is not clear enough to visitors, especially considering many blue badge holders will be elderly, disabled, or, like her, keeping an eye on a young child.

She said: “The information is just not clear at all; the tablet to enter registration numbers should be in the car park, not in reception. When I have a six-year-old autistic child who is screaming at me, I just don’t have time to find the people and ask about parking, it can be really hard.”

Miscommunication between Lisa and Smart Parking led to Lisa missing the appeal deadline and being summoned to face the fines in court, causing her further stress and anxiety.

Lisa said: “My life is hard enough as it is looking after my son, and this experience has made me feel terrible and not want to go back to the Spiceball; it has made me feel really anxious.”

However, after reaching out to Citizens Advice, Banbury MP Victoria Prentis, and staff from her son’s former school, Lisa was advised to speak to the Spiceball manager, who eventually managed to get the fines dropped.

Lisa said: “I spoke to the man that runs the Spiceball and told him about my situation and how the debt recovery company is taking me to court. We had a debate about the signs, with me telling him they had the wrong information and him doubling down and saying they were correct and eventually, he agreed to speak to the debt recovery team and get the fines dropped.

"I have also been in contact with Victoria Prentis, who has spoken to Cherwell District Council, who are looking into changing the signs to make the information clearer so no one gets caught out in the future.”

In response, Spiceball Leisure Centre manager Graham Bleach said: “I explained to the customer, if she contacted me in the first place the PCN (Penalty Notice Charge) would have been cancelled straight away as she is a blue badge holder.

"I also showed her all the signs in the car park and around the centre explaining the procedure for blue badge holders to get free parking, of which she was very grateful. I can confirm that no signage has been changed.”