Hi, I'm a regular Lidl customer and can prove it from receipts. On 25/07/14 I parked in Lidl as my wife had a hospital appt (a 20week pregnancy scan) and the hospital parking/on street parking nearby is a nightmare. I intended to return within the 90mins allowed to shop in Lidl (I did shop in Lidl afterwards but it was after I left the car-park (exited car-park 13:31, time on receipt 15:07)). We ran a bit late (as the baby was not in correct position!) and I didn't want to miss the scan by running back to Lidl so we were 17mins 52 seconds over the allowed 90mins. I now have a Civil Parking Charge Notice from Athena for £90 reduced to £45 if I pay within 14 days. This seems a bit excessive to say the least. I don't have any real defence as I broke their rules, do I have any way of not paying this charge? Is it legally enforceable? Can I offer to pay a smaller, more reasonable charge for 18minutes? Many thanks for any help!

My girlfriend(RK) received a NTK(attached) from Athena ANPR Ltd for 'Exceeded Free Parking Duration' at Lidl. The limit was 90 minutes but we exceeded by 12 minutes. Incident Date is 08/09, NTK issue Date is 10/09 and it hit the doormat on the 12th September. I was driving that day. As many times in the past, we waited for our daughter to finish her guitar lessons nearby, after we done some shopping at Lidl. My girlfriend(RK) paid for the shopping with her Credit card. She doesn't have the Lidl receipt but the transaction shows up on her credit card statement. Is it worth appealing? Please advise.

Hello there, I know this will have been asked time and time again, but I just wanted to get the latest on where we stand with our friends Athena ANPR Ltd. Basically I got a ticket while parking in Lidl last week for longer than ten minutes as I thought it was still under the 90 minute ruling. I don't have the money to pay this - hence I paid somewhere I thought was free... It seems the advice to ignore it has now changed, so what is the best course of action? This particular Lidl seems to require you to give your number plate in at the till, however no receipt is issued after. I would happily ignore it however it is still under my mum's address and she will worry about people knocking at her door. Also, one more thing, if I was not driving, do I have to name the other driver by law? Thanks everybody, Oasis Joe.

I'm hoping this will be straightforward - I see there are many similar posts in this forum. I received a Civil Parking Charge Notice 'Notice to Keeper' from Athena ANPR Ltd for 'Exceeded Free Parking Duration' at Lidl. The limit was 90 minutes and this was exceeded by 25 minutes. The Incident Date was 22/11, NTK issue Date is 25/11 and I received it 27/11. The car had been parked in Lidl whilst I did some shopping for a friend I was helping to move into a flat nearby. I entered the car park at 13:26, have a till receipt for 14:04 (28 mins later), took the shopping to my friend & helped her move some boxes/furniture around, returned to Lidl and picked up a few extra things (no receipt but it's on my Visa statement), then exited the car park at 15:22. This was the first time I'd shopped at Lidl (and probably my last), so was entirely unaware that they operate this system. I expect there are signs announcing the charge/penalty, but I certainly didn't see any (I've asked my friend to take some photos). I intend to appeal to Athena. Will the following suffice (suggested by Armadillo71 & successfully used for a similar case): 'As registered keeper of vehicle registration xxx xxx I am not liable for this charge. Enclosed is a copy of my till receipt and credit card statement for the date in question. I was not the driver on the date of the event. Please cancel this charge forthwith, or alternatively issue a valid code for the independent appeals service POPLAicon.' Further advice was to obtain free proof of postage from the PO (or retain copy of appeal via email) + never divulge the driver's identity re ANPR capture 'unless advised to by someone with the understanding of how the murky PPC world operates'.

Hi everyone, My first post. I have read through many of the sucess and ongoing stories in relation to these shenanigans, and must say you guys are quite amazing giving up our own time to help others. I am almost sure now how to proceed with this, but I wanted to be sure. I recieved my 1st letter today 05/09/15. The contravention was on 29/08/15. The charge was issued on 03/09/15. They have changed the parking restrictions to 10 mins unless you have your car reg validated by Lidl staff. I was totally unware of this until today and no staff told me about it. I have no store reciepts. £90 or £45 if paid within 14 days. I am going to appeal straight away and request the POPLA number under the basis of unfair charges and the fact they have no contract with the land owner. Is there a template letter I can use? With all the technical jargon and lawful speak? Please let me know if this is the correct approach. Many thanks in advance.

Hello to everyone reading this which is also my first post, Earlier today i received a "CIVIL PARKING CHARGE NOTICE" from parking in a Barnsley LIDL car park a few days ago. The charge is £90 at a discount of £45 if paid within 14 days. I was 31 minutes and 58 seconds over the 10 minutes free parking. The situation - In all honesty i wasn't even aware the parking was only for 10 minutes free as i could barely read the sign from where i was stood but i'll go back and check tomorrow so lets disregard this for now. I parked up, popped down the road for maybe 5-10 minutes with the intention of doing my shopping when i arrived but i had a message and my situation changed. Hopped in my car to start it up and being an old car - austin mini on a manual choke, the choke knob came off and it took me the considerable amount of time to get it back on so i could start the car. Now, i've read several bits of advice here from various letters with a defense to straight up ignoring it but none for quite the 30 minutes over time. To make it clear i've not made any contact with them yet and don't plan to until i know where i stand. Many thanks EDIT - Just to clarify, the letter has the camera pictures where the license plate is visible etc.

I have used your site for many years on different matters; always using your letter templates and always achieving a successful outcome, so thank you to the excellent advice you give. However, I currently have a situation with Athena ANPR and would be grateful for any help or advice any of your members could offer. On 7th May, this year, I received a Civil Parking Charge Notice, due to my vehicle overstaying the allowable free parking time in a Lidl Supermarket Car Park in Liverpool, on 1st May. The reasons behind the overstay are really irrelevant, but needless to say, the sign said 90 minutes free and then a penalty of £90 for any overstay after that (the time that the vehicle was parked was just under 3 hours). I sent an appeal letter on 9th May (template off this site) advising that “Being the registered keeper I was not liable for this charge”. Also I stated at the foot of the letter, “This appeal has been sent with proof of postage”. As a consequence of this I received their standard “Refusing to Cancel” letter, dated 21st May, which also included their advice to appeal to POPLA if I was not happy with their decision. At the bottom right hand corner off their letter they included an Appeal Verification Code, to be included in my letter to POPLA. On 29th May, I uploaded onto the POPLA website, my appeal giving 4 reasons (again, a template I used from this site) copy of letter attached. I then received from POPLA, a 22 page Email being the evidence that Athena ANPR had sent to POPLA. This included photos of the signage, a plan of the car park indicating where the 15 signs are around the car park (to be honest, my glasses would have needed glasses to read the small print on the signs) and copies of my correspondence. The date on the covering letter from Athena to POPLA is obscured but I received it from POPLA on 30 June. I responded to their evidence to POPLA (copy attached) on 4th July to which I received a letter dated 13th July from POPLA advising me that my response was more than the allowable 28 days (copy attached). I ‘m assuming that Athena are now sending in their evidence so close to the 28 day cut off making it difficult to respond to it within the said time limit. I assume that Athena will send me a letter now threatening bailiffs. Am I right in my assumption that a bailiff can only act on the instruction of a Court Order? It may be worth reiterating that throughout my correspondence with POPLA and Athena I’ve never said who the driver was, nor will I unless instructed to do so in a Court. So, where do I go from here or do I just wait? Any help would be appreciated, many thanks. Regards Euan I'll upload the POPLA Letter as a Tiff file. Hope that's better.

I am expecting a civil PCN to land any day now after being told it had been received by my employer (I drive a company car). I have read quite a lot of previous posts but seem to see half saying ignore the PCN, and another half saying don't ignore it, appeal it. As a lot of these previous posts go back months/years, I dont know if the best way of handling them has changed so am hoping for a more up to date suggestion of a response. I pulled into a car park (Lidl) while on a hands free phone call, knowing it was going to go on for ages so thought it best to just stop and pick it up. 25 minutes later, I finish the call and leave the car park. Must admit, I was completely oblivious to the fact it wasn't a free car park. I worked on the assumption that if a car park attendant needed me to move, I am sitting in the car so can do so. There were loads of free spaces so I wasn't taking up a valuable space. I have since been back and there are signs dotted around to say max of 60 mins for Lidl (and another store) customers but they cant be that obvious as I didn't notice them when I went in (see attached). So my questions are: 1. Should I ignore any correspondence I get? 2. Do I have an explanation good enough to make a legitimate appeal? 3. Should I just pay the fine and forget about it (even though I think its disgusting). Thanks in advance for any help.

I recived a Civil Parking Change Notice from Athnea ANPR showing photos of my car entering and departing Lidl Crowthonre on the 03/06/2015. The Charge is £60.00 with a discount for paying early of £25 The Issue Date was 05/06/15 Photo shows my car entering at 09:22 on the 03/06/15 Next Photo shows my car exiting at 11:37 on the same day. This would have exceed the posted 2 hour "Free" parking period by 15 minutes, total time in car park 02:15:14 What should i do?

Can anyone give me advice about payment notice from Athena,Lidl carpark. I parked in their carpark on Wednesday and stay longer than I should have:| My husband received a notice for payment of £50 if paid in 14 days or £100 if not:-x What do I do:?:

Hi, I am a totally clueless newbie to this and genuinely somebody who likes to tell the truth and probably ends up getting advantage taken because of it.. I would love some help in dealing with my current issue. Short version: Girlfriend on way home from london to Wallington train station which is right next to lidl's car park. I am a worrier of partners and recently in the area we have had a few police incidents with regards to females attacked in the area. Nevertheless I get to the empty carpark a little early and enter the car park at 23.01. I didnt notice the signs but they are clear and in the open. my girlfriends train is late only by 3minutes but I leave the car park at 23:23 and drive home. This was 4 days ago. Letter was sent to my partner who's the owner of the car (im insured driver) and I decided to simply email them my justification and below is what I wrote: So after reading old threads on here that i googled I am worried that I've admitted I am the driver and even more worried that if I ignore the letters I will become that statistic whom pays through the nose. HELP PLEASE! Many Thanks.

Hello all - I'm hoping someone can help me please. I have today received a Final Demand from Anthena ANPR Limited re parking in a Lidl carpark. I parked in my local Lidl car park a few weeks ago, got back to my car within the allotted time but sat in the car for about 20 minutes or so as I felt unwell. A few days later I received a parking charge notice from Athena and having researched private company parking invoices for a friend a few months ago followed the advice I read then, as in ignore it. I've since received the 'your 14 days are up' letter and now the one saying as the registered keeper I am liable for the full parking charge and as a result my case will be transferred to a debt collection company if full settlement is not received within 14 days. I'm a tad worried now, as having looked on the site today I see people are saying not to ignore it. Financially I'm slightly screwed anyway, as I have a debt solutions agreement in place to pay off debts my ex left me with, and am a single mum of two on a low wage - I don't have £90 spare to pay it, even if I wanted to. I apologise for adding yet another thread onto your forum, but wanted to check that the info I (hopefully) get is up-to-date and relevant to me! Thanks for reading and any advice would prevent the inevitable migraine that will soon start due to worrying about this.

Hi, my wife has received a Civil Parking Charge Notice from Athena ANPR today for overstaying her allowed parking time of 1 hour at a LIDL's car park last Thursday (17/05/14) by 21mins and 41secs. She was genuinely shopping at LIDL's for that long, in fact her receipt was 1hour and 21secs after she entered the car park, but on leaving the shop she met a friend outside and stood talking to her for 15 - 20mins, therefore running up the extra time. Having read a number of threads here it would appear that I should make a representation (appeal) to Athena but I am unsure what to appeal for, should I state that my wife was genuinely using the shop for this length of time or should I appeal that the charges are excessive and unlawful? if it is the latter does anyone have an example of what the appeal should include and also what is the best way to submit it (by email or registered post). Thanks for any advice you can give.

my husband just recieved 2 letters in the post from Athena. he is currently 150 miles away, and has been for 8 months, he has given me permission to open his letters that come here. i googled the name as soon as i logged onto the computer this afternoon, and found loads of threads saying to ignore the letters. but then i read another recent thread on here which states that the letters should not be ignored now. so what shall i do? i will not pay the money, and nether will my husband. any advice would be great.

Hi I recieved one of these a couple of weeks back and after doing some resurch on some forums i decided to email them the following letter: Dear whom it may concern I refer to your invoice dated the 13th August 2013 and received on the 15th August 2013. Parking Charge notice number: In response, I would ask you to note the following. When an invoice is issued under the law of contract to a vehicle which although allowed to park on the land, is in breach of the conditions relating to parking, it could be argued that the charge being demanded is so high that it amounts to a penalty and is therefore unlawful under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999. Therefore should it be your intention to pursue this matter further, I will require the following information., 1) Precise details of the calculation used to establish the sum pursued in this case, taking account of the following statement issued by the Department for Transport. Charges for breaking a parking contract must be reasonable and a genuine pre-estimate of loss. This means charges must compensate the landholder only for the loss they are likely to suffer because the parking contract has been broken. For example, to cover the unpaid charges and the administrative costs associated with issuing the ticket to recover the charges. Charges may not be set at higher levels than necessary to recover business losses and the intention should not be to penalise the driver. 2) I also require written proof that as a third party agent you have contractual consent from the land owner to raise legal proceedings on their behalf. Furthermore, should you fail to provide a detailed response to any of the points raised in this correspondence a POPLA reference will be required in order that this issue can be progressed to the independent appeals body. I am of course fully aware that the decision of POPLA is binding only on the pursuer and not the defender. I hope this information clearly outlines my position and I look forward to your detailed written response. I got the following reply yesterday: Thank you for your correspondence in relation to the outstanding parking charge. The car park is on private land and a private landowner is free to impose any terms they wish on the use of their land by others. The terms on which customers are allowed to use the car park are clearly stipulated on the signage and people have the option not to park there if they do not wish to incur those charges. There are a sufficient number of signs in the car park, which clearly state that if you fail to comply with the terms you will be liable to pay a parking charge. When you drove into the car park and parked your vehicle, you agreed to the parking terms detailed on the signage. Further to your request, we are not required to provide you with the breakdown or precise calculations of the charge. There is photographic evidence to show that you failed to comply with the parking terms. Therefore we are entitled under those terms to require you to pay the parking charge and to take enforcement action against you if you refuse or fail to pay. We are under no obligation at present to provide you with a copy of our contract with the landowner, but be advised that we do have the appropriate contractual authority to levy these charges and we can provide proof of this to both POPLA and the small claims courts. In light of the above the parking charge remains outstanding at £45. To prevent further action being taken please either contact us on 08444778009 to pay by telephone or send a cheque to Athena ANPR Ltd, Po Box 306, Chertsey, KT16 6ED. Cheques should be made payable to Athena ANPR Ltd. Regards Athena ANPR LTD ------------------------------------------------ Shall i just ignor it now? Has this ever got messy for anyone. Im assuming i wont have people knocking on my door or wont end up going to court? Thanks

Hi there, I have read everything on a previous thread and I am looking at some advice or help with my situation I have received the parking charge notice stating I was caught on camera staying 15 minutes longer than the 60 minute allowance. In the first letter they sent me they had all the jargon and causal threats with 2 photos of my entering and leaving the Lidl car park. Therefore, I replied to them asking how they got my details and saying I am the registered keeper but don't know who the driver was. They have replied: "Thank you for your correspondence in relation to the outstanding parking charge shown above. You have stated that you were not the driver at the time, but have not advised us in writing who was driving your vehicle. This is not a valid reason for an appeal and you need to be aware of the latest legislation concerning parking on the private land. This is contained in Schedule 4 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2013 (POFA). The drive is responsible for payment. However, under the law we have the right to recover unpaid parking charges from the registered keeper of the vehicle if they do not confirm us who the driver was. Consequently if you do not wish to pay, you much inform us in writing within 28 days the name and address of the driver. The period of 28 days begins the day after which the "Notice of Keeper" was served. The "Notice to Keeper" you received explains this. Therefore, to avoid further action, we look forward to either receiving payment or the name and address of the person who was driving at the time. You may pay online at Athena website by phone or by sending a cheque or postal order to the address below." My question is; Should I respond in writing with this template letter a few others have used with success: "I refer to your invoice dated the [x] and received on the [xx.xx.xx] In response, I would ask you to note the following. When an invoice is issued under the law of contract to a vehicle which although allowed to park on the land, is in breach of the conditions relating to parking, it could be argued that the charge being demanded is so high that it amounts to a penalty and is therefore unlawful under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999. Therefore should it be your intention to pursue this matter further, I will require the following information., 1) Precise details of the calculation used to establish the sum pursued in this case, taking account of the following statement issued by the Department for Transport. Charges for breaking a parking contract must be reasonable and a genuine pre-estimate of loss. This means charges must compensate the landholder only for the loss they are likely to suffer because the parking contract has been broken. For example, to cover the unpaid charges and the administrative costs associated with issuing the ticket to recover the charges. Charges may not be set at higher levels than necessary to recover business losses and the intention should not be to penalise the driver. 2) I also require written proof that as a third party agent you have contractual consent from the land owner to raise legal proceedings on their behalf. Furthermore, should you fail to provide a detailed response to any of the points raised in this correspondence a POPLA reference will be required in order that this issue can be progressed to the independent appeals body. I am of course fully aware that the decision of POPLA is binding only on the pursuer and not the defender. I hope this information clearly outlines my position and I look forward to your detailed written response. Yours faithfully" ...And then wait? Also, after I have sent this should I await their response and if they don't give me sufficient evidence for 1 or both, then appeal to POPLA? Any info on this would be highly appreciated as I'm a bit worried now. Kind regards,

Hi Folks, First time poster but heres the story. Back in August I was issued an invoice by Athena ANPR which I ignored based on advice as its not legally enforceable for parking on private land (Lidl). They recently sent me a final demmand but having read up on the increase of cases going to court I replied requesting a POPLA code as I was not happy with their demmand for payment and that they are not entitiled to issue such charge or enter into a contract with the driver as they are not the land owner. I demmanded to see contractual paperwork proving otherwise. They have replied stating because I didnt appeal via them within 28 of recieving the invoice they cannot consider any appeal and have also ignored my request. However I am now wishing to take that further as they have no legal right to bill me but they are ignoring requests for a POPLA ref. What should I do now? Should I contact POPLA directly or simply ignore them and fight them in court should they wish to take it that far?

Hi all, Not sure if this is of interest but thought I'd share. My mother drove me to Driffield for a job interview which ended up taking nearly 2 hours. She'd parked in Lidl and did not see or read the small signs dotted around. For most of the 1 hr 55 mins she was sat in the car (after buying a few things in Lidl). Lo and behold the red-topped charge notice of doom came through her door a few days later. I submitted this appeal through their website (not a template, all my own work!): I, XXXXXXX, am making this appeal on behalf of, at the request of and with the permission of, the vehicle's registered keeper, XXXXXXXX. Correspondence may be addressed to myself. The following is a reply to, and refers to, the ‘civil parking charge notice’ sent to the registered keeper and issued on 23/07/2013. There are several issues with the parking charge that has been levied. 1) The cost of the charge is prohibitively excessive. At no point is this charge of £90 described as or implied to be a penalty or fine. The alleged overstay is cited as consisting of 25 minutes and 23 seconds, equating to an hourly rate of (approximately) £212.74. By any possible measure, this can only be described as an unfair and discriminatory amount designed to exploit those wishing to use Lidl’s parking facilities in order to shop at the establishment. The ‘reduced charge’ still equates to a rate of £106.37, also a prohibitively expensive charge. Due to the excessive nature of this charge I request that you provide me with an explanation of and justification for the charge, including a breakdown of the costs and losses incurred by yourself in the administration of this specific charge. This will allow yourselves an opportunity to prove that it is not of an excessive nature. 2) You have given evidence of the vehicle being ‘parked’ which comprises of still photographs of the vehicle allegedly entering the car park at ’10.35.51’ and exiting at ‘12.31.14’. The evidence provided does not, however, prove beyond ‘reasonable cause’ that the vehicle was parked for this entire period of time. It can be reasonably assumed that the vehicle was parked at some point (should these timestamps be accurate) but without further evidence supporting the movements of the vehicle inside the car park, and bearing in mind the alleged overstay consisted of only (approximately) 19.9% of the total alleged stay period, I request that evidence be provided which proves that the vehicle was stationary and unattended for a minimum of 25 minutes and 23 seconds. 3) You have given no indication as to the reliability and accuracy of the equipment used in recording both the photographic evidence and the times at which the vehicle entered and exited the car park. I therefore request supporting information which relates to the maintenance schedules, methods and practices of all recording equipment used in the gathering of the presented evidence as well as a detailed account of the error detection, diagnosis and rectification procedures employed by Athena as well as the steps taken to ensure that timestamps are accurate to 1 second (the level of accuracy used by yourselves). 4) I request that you provide me with an explanation of how a third party that does not own or rent the land nor utilise a retail space or outlet linked or related to property on which the vehicle was allegedly parked, has a legal or civil right to not only levy a charge on customers of a retail outlet to which the land is related, but also to access the personal information of the registered keeper stored by the DVLA. Athena ANPR accessed this information without permission, for a purpose not required by a criminal investigative process and without ensuring that the registered keeper concerned was satisfied that their personal details would be safeguarded under the Data Protection Act 1998. This act requires that the processing of such personal data is not conducted in a manner or for a purpose which ‘is likely to cause substantial damage or substantial distress to him or to another’. It can be argued that sending a letter demanding £90 for a parking charge which equates to an hourly rate of £212.74 is likely to cause distress, or at the very least Athena ANPR cannot guarantee that the individual concerned will not suffer ‘substantial distress’ as a result, especially when the individual concerned is an elderly lady who has never been persecuted, prosecuted, investigated or charged with any traffic or civil offence or violation. 5) Your correspondence states that ‘the terms and conditions of the car park are clearly displayed on signs in prominent places.’ I request that you provide evidence, time-stamped before the alleged incident, which supports this claim. This evidence should include a clear notice that states by entering the car park in a motor vehicle, customers agree to be bound to a contractual obligation which would allow Athena ANPR to access the registered keeper’s personal information from the DVLA as well as reassurances that, should this information be gathered by Athena ANPR, the rights of the registered keeper will be protected as per the Data Protection Act 1998. I would like to make it clear that this letter is not an attempt to elicit a cancellation of the charge by requesting excessive information (nor is it a template), but is instead a measure, commensurate with the scale of the charge levied, to ensure that said charge is duly justifiable and due. £90 (or even £45) is a large sum of money to a pensioner and I intend to ensure, beyond reasonable doubt, that you have full and proper rights to claim it, and that you have done everything possible and within your powers to ensure that the legal processes are being followed and that you have provided full and complete disclosure of all facts and consequences prior to the alleged incident. I also wish, simply, to be entirely satisfied that the alleged incident took place and that the charge presented is not due to an error by yourselves. With that in mind, I also wish it to be made clear that this letter is not an admission to liability. Yours respectfully, XXXXXXX On Behalf of XXXXXXX (registered keeper) ------------------------------------------------------------ I received an automated email acknowledging receipt and can only assume the person who opened it could not be bothered to deal with it as my mother received, a few weeks later, a letter saying that as no appeal had been received and no payment made, the cost was now up to £90 and debt collectors and legal action may be forthcoming should no payment be received. My reply: Parking Charge Notice Number: XXXXXXX Vehicle Registration Number: XXXXXX As with my previous correspondence I, XXXXXX, am communicating with yourselves at the request and with the permission of the registered keeper, XXXXXXX. I write in reference to your letter dated 27/08/2013 in which you demand payment of £90 and threaten the involvement of a debt collection company and possible legal action despite my having received no communication regarding the appeal I lodged on 02/08/2013 through the appeals form on your website. I have evidence of submission in the form of an automated email sent by Athena acknowledging receipt. In my original appeal, which you have seemingly, and very unwisely, ignored, I made it explicitly clear to Athena that the registered keeper of the vehicle, and thus the recipient of your correspondence, is an elderly lady who is finding this process highly distressing. Despite this you have seen fit to send her a threatening letter which has served only to, illegitimately and reprehensibly, increase this distress. Please accept my assurances that should the 'legal action' you promise come to fruition, this distress will be discussed in considerably more detail in court. You will be aware of the legislative process you must go through to claim your 'parking charges' and you will be aware of the scrutiny under which your industry operates. By ignoring my appeal, which was filed through your own website, within the time limit specified and with all of the information I am, by your own terms and conditions, obliged to provide, you have breached this legislative process and I am sure I do not need to clarify the position you now find yourselves in. I look forward to reading your acceptance of my appeal and your apology for the unnecessary and unjustifiable upset your actions have caused. Regards, XXXXXX On behalf of XXXXXX ----------------------------------------------------------------- The 35 days they state they will respond to an appeal in expires tomorrow so my argument, in the unlikely event they should continue, is simple. Either there is no contract between the registered keeper and themselves or any affiliated party, in which there is no obligation to pay the charge, or there is a contract in place, in which they have breached it by failure to respond in their own time limit. Sorry for the text bomb but I'm interested if anyone else has had a similarly pleasant experience with this apparent bunch of schoolboys

Hi there - another question about these fine notices I'm afraid. I received one last Friday for parking in Lidl car park last Monday. I was there for 23 minutes while I took my son to the dentist next door. He has Autism and this is an extremely traumatic thing for him so I decided to park as close as possible (i.e. Lidl car park!!). I had intended to go into Lidl after and buy something small but he wasn't in the right state to do that so we left. Now I have until next Weds before the fine goes up to £90. I've been in two minds over whether to just pay it and be done with it as we have enough stress in our lives as it is. But I don't think I can let myself do this - I'd be very annoyed with myself!!! So - do you think I should write to them and be honest about the situation (but that would mean admitting that I was the driver) and attempt to appeal to their 'human' side? I can send them various Dr letters if absolutely necessary. Or should I send one of the template letters saying that I don't admit to being the driver on that day? I just don't really want to start receiving a barrage of threatening letters to get stressed about nor can we afford to go to court if it comes to that! Many thanks for any advice, K

I have now received three letters from Athena ANPR stating that i owe £90 for allegedly exceeding a hr parking stay a Lidl. Is Athena entitled to get the money from me? Is their a template letter i can send to them to stop the letters? Thanks

Hi all, I take it the usual advice applies (ignore) Friend got invoice for 10 mins over the 1.5hrs at Lidl for £90/£45 from Athena ANPR ltd

Hi guys First post here , hello to all but Im incensed! My 87 year old parents have just received a parking charge notice from Athena because it appears they had the temerity to take more than 1. hour 30 mins shopping in Lidl! I have told them to ignore it as per the many of the posts on here about Athena . I also called Lidl to make my feelings known and apparently If the registered keeper calls them they can "do something about it " I think ignore will work just fine. What you think?

http://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=252669&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 The above thread will give you all the information, but the basic gist is this: * Person parks up at Lidl in Thornton Heath * Is issued a notice for overstaying * Has CCTV from the Tesco over the road that proves that he hasn't overstayed * Points this out in writing and notice is cancelled * The notice appears to be photoshopped by http://www.athena-parking.com. He has provided a copy of what they sent to him on page 3 of the thread. PPC's on the face of it appear to be sinking to new lows, and this seemed the most relevant forum I'm registered with to share the information.