BBC newsreader received apology from store's parking police after 'over-zealous warden gave him ticket for fictitious offence'

Veteran BBC newsreader Peter Sissons has received an apology from Homebase after he claimed an over-zealous parking warden gave him a £90 ticket for a fictitious offence.

The former Question Time presenter left his car in a retail park while he went shopping with his wife Sylvia at Pets at Home and Homebase on Monday afternoon.

He returned after parking for 35 minutes in a three-hour bay to find a parking warden had issued him with a ticket.

The 71-year-old had a furious stand-up row with the warden and accused him of pulling a ‘scam’ and of ‘deception’.

The official, employed by Smart Parking to monitor the Riverside retail park in Sevenoaks, claimed Mr Sissons had moved his car during his 35-minute stay, meaning he was in breach of the rule preventing customers leaving the space and then returning to it within a set period of time.

The warden bizarrely claimed he had ‘monitored the position of the tyre valves’ on all the cars, so he was able to see if a vehicle had left and then returned to the same bay a short time later. Mr Sissons, who is now retired, said: ‘This chap said he was just doing his job, but he could not produce any CCTV or a time-coded photograph as evidence of my offence.

‘His only proof was by making a note of the position of the valves on my wheels and he could tell that I had moved the car and returned before the two-hour limit.

‘This was nothing more than a lie. I had not moved my car. The fine isn’t what worries me, it’s the deception.’

The presenter, who used to front the BBC Nine O’Clock News and the BBC’s News at Ten, said the company was running the risk of ‘driving people away from the shops’. He added: ‘If I wasn’t from the area and had got this ticket, I wouldn’t come back ever again.

‘The other damaging aspect is that if you throw the ticket in the bin and refuse to pay the fine, then it can affect your credit rating.’

Mr Sissons said he flagged down a passing police car after he had remonstrated with the attendant, but still was not able to get the fine rescinded.

Bosses at Homebase have now stepped in and agreed to scrap the fine. They have apologised to Mr Sissons, and a company spokesman said: ‘We have asked the car parking agent to investigate how this incident occurred, and are seeking negotiations with them to review the current parking procedures.

‘Due to the nature of Riverside retail park’s management structure, the car parking policy is run independently of the companies that trade there.’

A spokesman for Smart Parking declined to comment.

Original report here

　

　

　

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