Gosport Community Association apologises as parking fines issued in error at Thorngate Halls
Visitors to a community hall in Gosport have been receiving a shock parking ticket in the post despite having purchased valid tickets for their stay.
A number of drivers who have parked at Thorngate Halls on Bury Road have received fines, some relating to visits several weeks prior. Gosport Community Association who own and manage the hall have apologised citing a system fault for the error.
Mark Bennett, an event planner at Gosport Comic Con who also runs a number of local groups, has received two parking fines despite purchasing tickets on both occasions. He parked there on December 3, 2024 and it was not until seven weeks later that a parking ticket arrived. Fortunately for him, he still had the ticket to prove he had paid.
He said: “Most people would have disposed of the ticket but fortunately I had kept mine. I don't understand why they have not told people about the issue as it causing major havoc.”
Then on January 11, six people from his group were all given parking fines despite once again paying for a ticket. Having initially been told to appeal the fine with the parking company he has raised the issue directly with Thorngate Halls.
He said: “I was expected to spend my time submitting appeals for their error. I decided to raise it directly with them as they know there is an issue and they are the land owner.”
The experience has led to him putting off arranging events such as Gosport Comic Con at Thorngate Halls in the future.
Gosport Community Association have acknowledged there is an issue and apologised to anyone who has been affected.
A spokesperson said: “We have been experiencing a problem with our car park where customers have received parking charge notices when they have paid to park, this appears to be a fault with the system, which has now been identified, and work is currently underway to rectify the chaos that it has caused.
“Anyone who purchased a valid ticket, who has received a PCN in error, will, we have been assured have this rescinded by Creative Parking who manage the car parking system, although this is regrettably taking longer than we had anticipated.
“We can only apologise for the inconvenience that this is causing and for the time it is taking to rectify the problem for all those who have been affected and try to reassure them that we are committed to ensuring they all receive the cancellations that are due.”