Parking charge refunds will take weeks - council
BBCRefunds of overpaid car park charges are expected to take "a few weeks", a council has warned.
Reform UK-led West Northamptonshire Council said it "made an error" when it did not carry out a statutory public consultation before raising fees on 1 April.
The authority said it would reimburse anyone who paid more than they should have done before the increase was formally reinstated on 1 May.
Most refunds would be "made automatically for card and app payments" but drivers who paid in cash and blue badge holders needed to complete a short online refund form, it confirmed.
The change means two hours of free parking at weekends and bank holidays has now stopped and discounts for blue badge holders have also been removed.
Previously, Stuart Timmiss, Reform's executive director of place, economy and the environment at the council, said: "We apologise to the politicians, we apologise to the users, we've made a mistake."
The authority said the refunds apply to:
- Blue badge holders who were charged to park
- Drivers who paid increased weekend charges
- Drivers who paid to park in Northampton town centre car parks on bank holidays
- Drivers who parked at Albion Place, Campbell Square, Midsummer Meadow, St John's multi‑storey or Upper Mounts and paid increased charges
- Those who paid penalty charge notices in affected car parks.
"Any Penalty Charge Notices issued during April in the affected car parks will be cancelled, with paid notices refunded automatically," the council added.
It urged anyone affected "to allow a few weeks for all refunds to be processed, due to the volume of transactions involved".
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