A LORRY firm in Colchester has lost its legal battle over refusing to pay £900 in parking fines.
 

Three tickets with £300 fines were dished out to drivers at B&E Hamblion, based at the Hythe, when they stopped at Ransomes Park industrial estate in Ipswich.
 

Despite the legal fight being backed by The Road Haulage Association (RHA), a judge ruled in favour of the park after a court hearing.
Hamblion boss Kevin Read said: “The judge ruled the fee (£300) is not excessive and is enforceable.
“It is concerning, so we are considering an appeal.”
 

Mr Read was sent a court order earlier this year from the owners of the industrial estate, which employs private firm Proserve to enforce parking rules.
 

Since last October motorists on the estate are banned from stopping, waiting or parking on there.
 

Mr Read said the rules were introduced to stop hauliers parking up there for many hours at a time, causing an obstruction and a danger to others.
 

But he argued they had applied a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy, so drivers who paused briefly at the park, perhaps to call into a reception area, would be stung by the fines too.


 

Nigel Robson, a director at Ransomes Park’s parent company The Land Group, said: “We are disappointed that it had to go to court in the first place but having done it and been vindicated we hope we can carry on in managing the estate, encouraging as many people as possible to work there."