Is this private parking ticket company the most unpopular business in Milton Keynes?

Napier Parking is based in Regus House at Atterbury Lakes, near Broughton, and runs around 100 car parks all over England and Wales.

Many are on private land on behalf of shops or local attractions. In Milton Keynes, Napier run the Trackside Car Park at MK Central rail station and, until 2022, was in charge of the parking at Willen Lake.

The company describes itself as an industry-renowned car park operator that delivers “reliable, efficient and cost effective” results.

Its website states: “A key focus of Napier Parking is enforcement of parking on private land. Napier’s current clients include local authorities, private developers, country parks, national retailers, managing agents and land owners. We offer an end to end service... processing 24 hours a day 365 days a year.”

But though Napier may be a popular choice for land-owners, its reputation with motorists nowhere near as glowing.

It has more than 300 'terrible’ one-star reviews on the Trustpilot website, which states: 'Customers express widespread dissatisfaction with various aspects of this company. A strong consensus indicates negative sentiment regarding the location, with consumers finding issues that detract from their overall experience. “

Trustpilot adds: “The booking process also receives criticism, with reviewers reporting problems and expressing frustration.

“The payment system appears to be a significant pain point for many people, as they describe issues and express their discontent. The company's app is another area of concern, with reviewers reporting negative experiences. Finally, the refund process is a source of frustration, with consumers expressing dissatisfaction with the way their requests are handled.”

Many of the complaints are from people who drove into a Napier car park, decided against using it and then drove out after a a few minutes. Because Napier’s ANPR system has noted their numberplate, they then receive a parking fine – for not parking.

One such furious recipient recently was crime novel writer Tony Bassett, who had neither the correct coins nor phone app for the payment machine at a car park in Newbury, Berkshire.

"I left and parked somewhere else,” he said. “I have now received a demand from Napier to pay £100 -- even though I did not actually park the car there and was only on their land for six minutes.”

Google has many similar stories, with some people questioning whether they legally have to pay a parking charge imposed on private land by a private company.

The Citizens Advice website admits this can be a grey area, stating: “Private parking operators could take you to court, but they may choose not to do this as the amount of money being demanded is usually quite small.”

You can read the official Citizen’s Advice guidance here.

Meanwhile, we spoke to Napier Parking to discover if their unpopular reputation was justified.

Their spokesperson said: “We operate in the region of 100 car parks in England and Wales parking tens of millions of vehicles each year 99.6% of users never receive a PCN (general industry stats). Our services are in high demand and we are expanding rapidly. Normally when we get a press article we get a flurry of emails from landowners who are interested in our services. So perhaps you could put at the end, for enquiries regarding parking management services please visit www.napierparking.co.uk that would be appreciated.

“In respect of appeals being allowed, the truth is we overturn very few on appeal, the reason being that they are issued correctly in the first place so there are no grounds to cancel them. In 2024 we had 584 appeal go to the Independent Appeals Service (https://theias.org/) which is the second appeal stage. This is a tiny number given we will probably issue around 115,000 Parking Charges this coming year. Again a very small number given the enormous volume of vehicles we park across the country.”

Four of the appeals were found in favour of the motorist, another 11 were conceded by Napier, and 569 were declined and found in favour of Napier.

“From these statistics you can tell that we take the operation of our car parks extremely seriously and ensure that we pursue correctly issued PCN's,” said the spokesperson.

“At all times we are required to comply with the standards published in the sector single code of practice.”

The spokesperson said Mr Bassett’s fine in Berkshire had now been cancelled.

“We would always encourage anyone who receives a Parking Charge and feels its incorrectly issued or should be cancelled due to mitigation as set out in the Sector Single Code to appeal to us at the earliest opportunity so it can be reviewed. I am pleased in this case that the appeals process worked and a resolution was quickly reached,” they added.

“Many of our car parks are frequented by users for a short period of time, such as to pop to the shops. In all such cases we require payment to be made as that is how we fund our services. A consideration period is always provided which is considered on a site by site basis, to allow motorists time to leave if they don't want to park without incurring a Parking Charge.

“The terms and conditions of parking at our car parks is clearly signed and we would encourage all users of our car parks to read and understand those.”