Chef's relief as £3,000-plus Hartlepool Marina parking bill is dropped after 18-month long dispute

A chef is relieved after over £3,000 in parking tickets and charges were dropped after more than a year.
By Mark Payne
Published 20th Jan 2024, 04:45 BST
Updated 20th Jan 2024, 09:25 BST
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Lee Pennick says he received up to 18 parking tickets dating between June and August in 2022 when he ran a fish and chip shop at Hartlepool Marina.

He and the company that owns the restaurant always disputed the tickets on the grounds that for years the building had been issued with a number of parking permits by the Marina’s owners.

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Appeals to the car park operator fell on deaf ears and it pursued legal action.

Lee Pennick with a selection of his correspondence relating to his parking fight at Hartlepool marina. Picture by FRANK REIDLee Pennick with a selection of his correspondence relating to his parking fight at Hartlepool marina. Picture by FRANK REID
Lee Pennick with a selection of his correspondence relating to his parking fight at Hartlepool marina. Picture by FRANK REID

But when Lee turned up at court last week for a hearing to decide the case, he was told that it had been dropped by Northwest Parking Management.

He said: “You feel like a criminal going to court even though I’m not.

"If it was one or two tickets, I would have paid them just to get rid of them. But I got about 18 equalling over £3,200.

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"I could have understood it if we didn’t have a business or a permit but we had both.”

Car Parking charge signs at Hartlepool Marina. Picture by FRANk REIDCar Parking charge signs at Hartlepool Marina. Picture by FRANk REID
Car Parking charge signs at Hartlepool Marina. Picture by FRANk REID

Lee, 55, became a tenant of the Harbour View, in Slake Terrace, in 2021 and says he had no issues with parking for the first 10 months.

He added: “In June 2022, I got a couple of tickets. I thought nothing really of it because I had got my permit.”

Lee showed them to the company that owns the restaurant which got in touch with the parking company on his behalf and asked them to dismiss them.

But they were told there was “insufficient” evidence.

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Lee continued to be issued with tickets up until the time his tenancy ended at the beginning of August 2022.

The restaurant’s owner wrote to the car parking management company confirming that Lee was a tenant and explained that for several years they had been issued with several parking permits by the car park’s owners.

They added at no time had they been told of any changes with the management of the car park or that the permits were not valid.

Teesside County Court confirmed the case had been discontinued by the parking company. Northwest Parking Management did not respond to a request for comment.

Lee added: “It’s just a relief it’s over.”