MSP urges drivers to not pay fines issued by Perth car park firm

By Jamie Buchan, 16 June 2015 9.10am.

 

Murdo Fraser MSP outside the Kinnoull Street car park. He said Smart Parking would find it ‘very difficult’ to take motorists to court over outstanding fees.

 

 

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser has advised drivers to ignore threats of court action over unpaid penalties from Smart Parking’s controversial Kinnoull Street site.

 

The firm has asked a debt recovery agency to chase up outstanding fees of up to £160.
Politicians say they have been inundated with complaints about the site’s new number plate recognition service since it went live in February.

Scores of motorists have been caught out by the new setup, including Mr Fraser.

The MSP said it would be “very difficult” for Smart Parking to take drivers to court over unpaid fees.
Mr Fraser said: “I have advised all individuals hit with a £160 claim not to pay this. 
“I have not heard of anyone being taken to court for recovery of this sum and I believe it would be very difficult for Smart Parking to successfully make a case, but I can understand why individuals are worried when they are hit with a fee of this nature.”

A Smart Parking spokesman said: “Since the new system was installed at Kinnoull Street the number of motorists using the car park has remained the same, and the overwhelming majority of them do so without any problem whatsoever.”

Gill Johnston is one of many motorists who have been hit with invoices after using the city’s Kinnoull Street site.

 

And she has voiced her frustration in a song which is destined to become a YouTube hit.

 

The track, titled Just Ignore, calls for civil disobedience to the tune of Let It Go from the widely popular Disney movie Frozen.

 

She sings: “Its time to act, it’s time to stand and show Smart Parking they’re out of hand.”

 

Urging fellow motorists to unite, Ms Johnston adds: “Let’s ignore, let’s ignore, throw the letters in the bin; Let’s ignore, let’s ignore, they’re committing a terrible sin; ‘Cos we don’t care, what Smart Parking say.

 

“Let the storm range on. Threat of court is a nonsense anyway.”

 

The impressive parody, which laments the recent closure of Perth’s Bertie Browns shop, ends with the line: “Scottish fines aren’t valid anyway.”

 

The four-minute clip, written by the Johnston family, has already been viewed hundreds of times since it went online.