A London firm has gone on trial on fraud charges after allegedly issuing parking tickets to Scottish motorists knowing they were invalid.
Civil Enforcement Ltd is accused of sending letters to drivers demanding they pay penalties after parking in two car parks in Inverurie.
The company is alleged to have written to the motorists claiming “civil penalty charges” were enforceable against them under schedule four of the Protection of Freedoms Act, which covers the recovery of unpaid parking charges.
But prosecutors in Scotland say the firm did this in the knowledge that the legislation does not apply to residents north of the border.
Legal representatives for the company denied the 11 charges against them when the case called at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday.
Giving evidence, staff nurse Michelle MacPherson, from Boddam, told the court that she had been issued with a penalty notice after she parked for about four hours outside Inverurie Garden Centre.
The 43-year-old, who was not familiar with the car park, said she had driven there on March 11, 2014 to catch up with some old friends from university.
The court heard that they had spent around four hours in the garden centre’s coffee shop before they decided to go home.
Ms MacPherson said that as she was leaving the shop a member of staff at the checkout said she would likely receive a parking fine as she had exceeded the time limit.
She said that was the first time she was made aware of the parking restrictions.
She said: “We were a bit put out. She knew we were there for that amount of time and didn’t come to warn us.
“After we came out we went to see if we could see any signs. I didn’t notice them when I went in. I had to be right in front of them to see them.”
The court heard that later that month Ms MacPherson received a letter from Civil Enforcement Ltd demanding payment.
She said the letter “looked official”, as if it had come from the council or the police.
However, on the advice of Trading Standards, she ignored it.
A month later she claimed she received another letter from the company.
She said: “I was just sickened – terrified to be honest. It looked like it had come from a court.
“It had the scales on it and the word ‘civil’. It was scary.”
The court also heard evidence from five other motorists who parked in the town’s North Street car park and claim they had received penalty notices.
The trial, before Sheriff Edward Savage, continues.