Unauthorised car park near Stansted Airport grows after notice

Jane Fuller, from Hadleigh, Suffolk, said her daughter’s car had been left unlocked for 22 hours in April.

“My daughter has an app on her phone and she managed to lock it from Croatia,” she said.

“When we eventually got back to the car park, we had to hunt for it in the dark. We found it parked on top of rubble. It was a shocking experience,” she added.

Deb Jordan, from Ely, Cambridgeshire, said the transport to the car park from the airport in May with her family had been “an absolute hazard”.

She said passengers had been left stranded at Stansted Airport for more than three hours after landing.

“They piled two busloads of angry people onto one small transit minibus,” she said.

“Luggage was piled on top of passengers. I had a pushchair wedged over my head.”

On arrival at the car park, Jordan said the family had been given the keys to someone else’s car.

Several customers said they had been charged an additional £20 on arrival at the car park to pay for transport to the Radisson Blu Hotel at Stansted Airport, from where they then had to walk to the airport.

They were also told to meet at the location at the airport on their return after ringing drivers at New Farm once they had landed.

The BBC approached Cheema and Abdul Rehman, the new director listed for SC Parking Ltd, for comment and did not receive a response.

Uttlesford District Council said it was a complex case with “various agencies involved.”

A spokesperson said the authority would continue to monitor the site and assess any new reports received to determine whether they fall within the scope of the existing enforcement notice.

Essex Trading Standards said it had not received enough complaints to justify a formal investigation.

Travel Extra Deals Ltd, which owns a comparison site used by some of the car park’s customers, said it had issued the operator with a final warning and would stop sending bookings if further complaints were received.

The company said it would review unresolved cases, provide refunds where appropriate and offered an apology on behalf of the operator.

The BBC put customers’ complaints to Park Pilot Ltd, the company named on customers confirmation emails as the service provider, as well as the writing to management at New Farm, but neither responded.

The Radisson Blu Hotel at Stansted Airport said it was aware of concerns. Its general manager, Dinesh Kunder, said: “We would like to stress, the hotel has no commercial agreement nor affiliation with this company.”

Stansted Airport’s managing director, Gareth Powell, urged customers to choose authorised parking providers, check reviews and report concerns to Essex Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.

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