Multimillion pound parking company suspended by DVLA over allegations of 'data misuse'

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One of the country’s largest parking companies previously caught faking time stamps on tickets has been suspended by the DVLA.

UK Parking Control (UKPC) has more than 2,000 sites nationwide, including NHS, supermarket and retail centre car parks.

It is not the first time the company, which had a turnover of more than £11.6m last year, has been suspended by the DVLA.

In 2015, the company admitted to faking time stamps on tickets to catch out drivers. The firm claimed a number of employees had used a “loophole” to alter times and fine those who had parked legally.

Neil Horton claims he parked his car in July 2015 for just 15 minutes but still received a fine, despite the car park he was using providing 90 minutes of free parking.

The photographic evidence he received stated that he had left his vehicle for almost two hours, but the images, which UKPC claimed to be two hours apart, showed the same car behind Mr Horton’s with its boot open in both pictures.

Sarah Gashi had a similar experience when she spent an hour visiting a friend in Worcester.

She received a ticket claiming she had stayed for more than two hours, and when she asked for evidence she received two photographs of her car – one stamped with 14:13 GMT and another 16:19 GMT.

“I was at my parents’ house at 14:20. I was nowhere near here,” Ms Gashi told the BBC.

“If you look at the colour of the sky in the photograph, everything is still the same. Whereas to me, it should have got darker at that time of year.”

After the incident, UKPC were prevented from chasing unpaid fines due to a temporary suspension from using DVLA data to trace drivers’ addresses.

However, a subsequent investigation found UKPC car park attendants misleading drivers and telling people issued with tickets during the ban that they would still be pursued.

In response, UKPC claimed its staff misunderstood an email regarding the suspension.

DVLA confirmed they will now investigate the allegations against UKPC.

A DVLA spokesperson said: “We have suspended UKPC while we investigate concerns. While this is ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

The Independent has contacted UKPC for a comment.