Letter: Castle Car Park is Over Charging

Published on: 30 Jan, 2026
Updated on: 30 Jan, 2026

Castle Car Park in Sydenham Road

From Francesca Stern

I, along with probably hundreds of other users, was charged £4 instead of the advertised £2 on the evening of Wednesday, January 28 at Castle Car Park.

The pay machines appear to have been incorrectly programmed after the ANPR [automatic number plate recognition] system was introduced. I did phone the helpline but the man at the other end said he could do nothing and to complain to GBC.

I emailed Pedro Wrobel, the CEO at GBC, to complain that same evening and his PA responded that my complaint had been passed to the relevant department but I have heard nothing further back. I do not intend to use this car park in the evening again until I am sure that the issue has been resolved.

However, other users of this car park should be warned that they may be overcharged and I advise them to complain to GBC if this happens. If it continues, this is nothing less than deliberate overcharging which is probably bringing in the council an extra £600 per evening and probably £4,000 a week.

I used the Farnham Road car park last weekend and the ANPR system there was working fine.

The Dragon NEWS has forwarded this letter to GBC.