Reminder to Minster car badge holders

A message to all Minster parking badge holders: please check that your parking pass is still valid.

On Tuesday, February 19 my wife and I returned to our car in the St George’s Field car park after attending a show at the Grand Opera House.

I had parked shortly after 6pm, as evening parking is free from that time to Minster badge holders. I was shocked to find a penalty notice on the windscreen.

I was momentarily outraged, then the penny dropped and I scanned my pass to find to my surprise that it had expired several months previously.

On arriving home we called relatives with whom we had spent the evening, to find they too had found a penalty notice on return to their car in the Castle car park, as their permit had also expired.

We contacted our daughter and asked her to check her pass, and surprise, surprise, hers had also run out.

We are all honest citizens and would never deliberately defraud the council of parking revenue.

However, these permits are valid for two years and no renewal reminders are issued.

In our busy lives it is easy to become complacent and forgetful.

I was told by someone in parking services that it would be too expensive to send out reminders, but surely a brief email or text message would not be prohibitive.

Richard Carr,

Station Road,

Upper Poppleton, York