A SHOCKED food delivery driver received a car parking fine after being caught on camera doing a U-turn.

Gordon Welsh, who works and drives in Kendal, uses his vehicle for food delivery orders placed on apps such as Uber Eats.

When travelling to the centre from the direction of Windermere, drivers cannot go straight on to Stricklandgate. 

Instead Mr Welsh does a U-turn when it is safe to do so before the traffic lights outside Sports Direct so he does not have to go around the one-way system. 

He said that he sometimes does it up to 30 times a night. It is there he was caught on the CCTV cameras in the car park on April 28.

He received a letter saying that a £50 fine was to be paid within 28 days to avoid debt recovery action. 

 

The Westmorland Gazette: The parking fine said that he was parked for this amount of timeThe parking fine said that he was parked for this amount of time (Image: Gordon Welsh) 

The cameras caught him twice, at 5.52pm and 10.47pm. The fine notice said he had been parked in the car park for four hours and 54 minutes, which exceeds the maximum stay allowed. Mr Welsh said that he has been caught a previous time and won the appeals process. 

Mr Welsh said: "All the drivers and all the delivery drivers U-turn there. It is unavoidable, you do that 30 times a night. Taxi drivers must do it all the time. The camera is falsely accusing people. Two weeks after I made my first appeal I got a letter saying it was dropped. I said you should move the camera down.

The Westmorland Gazette: Drivers often use the road outside Sports Direct to make a U-turnDrivers often use the road outside Sports Direct to make a U-turn (Image: Google Maps)

"I don't want to spend more time on it." 

He said that older drivers might receive the fine and pay it without realising that they could appeal. 

The parking fine system is operated by Highview, which is part of the Nexus Group.

A spokesman from Highview said: "We've been managing the contract for over 10 years, and this is the first time we have been informed of this issue. However, we are always grateful for the feedback we receive from other motorists. 

"We will be sending an engineer to look at the camera alignment and address the issue whilst continuing to do the job the system is designed for."