Hermiston Gait Retail Park

[number14]

Make of this what you will but, according to perplexity.ai:-

There is a legal distinction between parking and waiting in the UK, but in practice, the difference is nuanced, often depending on context and signage.

Legal Definitions​

• Parking: Legally, a vehicle is considered "parked" if it is stationary and not engaged in activities such as loading, unloading, or picking up/dropping off passengers, regardless of whether the driver is inside the vehicle.
• Waiting: "Waiting" can allow brief stops, often for activities like loading, unloading, or setting down/picking up passengers. On signage (e.g., yellow lines), "no waiting" restrictions generally mean stopping briefly is allowed for these purposes, but longer stops are not.

Key Distinctions & Enforcement​

• If a vehicle is stopped for more than a very short time (e.g., over five minutes) and not actively loading/unloading or taking on/off passengers, it is generally considered to be parked under UK law—even if the driver remains in the vehicle.
• For enforcement, road signs make this clear:
  • No Waiting: Stopping is allowed briefly for certain activities (passenger drop-off, loading). Prohibited for longer stays.
  • No Parking: Typically means no stopping and leaving the vehicle unattended, but details depend on local signage and rules.

Technical Legal Backing​

• Under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984, a "parking place" expressly refers to "a place where vehicles... may wait," conflating the legal meaning of parking and waiting in some contexts.
• The main practical distinction is that "waiting" usually refers to a very brief stop, while "parking" implies a longer or indefinite stop.

In Summary​

• Yes, there is a legal distinction, but in daily enforcement, staying in the vehicle does not necessarily mean the vehicle is just "waiting"; it may still be legally classed as "parked".
• Traffic regulations and signage determine what level of stopping is permitted for waiting versus parking, so it is vital to observe local rules.

 

[r4dent]

False dichotomy.
It is not personal opinion, it is recollection of the law.

I do not recall the specific legislation, any more than I recall the legislation that imposes speed limits in built-up areas or the one that requires third party insurance.

Nevertheless, I am confident that all three have legal basis.

The human mind is a weird thing (doubly so any one who is a member of this group!) and I prefer not to rely on a "recollection of the law"
I really was hoping that you were correct but will continue to beleive that when I am sat in a car waiting I am parked.

The nearest I can get is https://www.justanswer.co.uk/law/7uocx-legal-definition-parking-does-car.html


Jo C., Barrister Experience: Over 15 years in practice
In order to give you an answer tailored to your circumstances, I will just need to ask you some preliminary questions so that I can consider your position from all angles.
Who issued the fine?

CUSTOMER Parking eye (car park management)

JoC Were you stationary?

CUSTOMER: I parked the car stopped the engine and sat reading in the car. i never left the car. the car park was empty it was early morning. had it filled up i would have left or bought a ticket. i was awaiting a phone call to collect someone. no ticket was issued and i was not approached i received a photograph weeks later of my entering and leaving the car park

JoC That is parking I'm afraid.
Parking has been considered by higher courts and it doesn't mean actually abandoning the car.
It just means causing it to come to rest at any one location.

 

[TeamRienza]

Is it possible that traffic wardens ignore you 'waiting/parking' as potentially if he cannot write you a ticket before you drive away, then perhaps it is not technically delivered onto your vehicle. Just a theory, presumably if he returned later he might engage with you.
We must have representatives of most professions on here. Have we not got a member who is a traffic warden, perhaps we have, but they don't want the abuse that one or two other members bask in!

Davy

 

[molly 2]

Just pay and put it down experience, and sleep easy ,

 

[alcam]

Just pay and put it down experience, and sleep easy ,

Alternatively, appeal , win , don't pay and go out for dinner

 

[gasgas]

All this means is that I will no longer go to Hermiston gate shopping, I can find the same shops there but in a. More welcoming area

Quite right Bigshug. I pulled into a small service station alongside the A14 and parked for a cuppa tea. Finished that in ten minutes but I couldn't get out. There were three rows of petrol pumps, two of which were fenced off because diggers and lorries were doing building work inside the area. So there was a queue of cars & vans trying to get to the one row of pumps and I couldn't get from my parking place into the queue. The only option I had was to drive over a kerb, over the flower bed and back on to the highway. I got a Parking Eye ticket. I appealed stating the reasons, and the fact that I expected that some of the cars in the queue for a pump would also be getting tickets for the ten minute waiting limit.
I then looked up the Parking Eye web site, and unsurprisingly there were two sections: one for victims and another for property owners. The property owners bit was all about how to make extra money by allowing Parking Eye to install cameras. The property owner gets a cut of the fines that accrue. This is why there are all these cameras, it is so the property owners make a tidy bit on the side for zero investment.
So whenever I see a parking lot with Parking Eye I turn round and leave. Even if my 'empty' light is on. Up with this I will not put.
We ought to write to the property owners and tell them how we used to like shopping with them and spending our money there, but in future we won't because of Parking Eye.

 

[gasgas]

Alternatively, appeal , win , don't pay and go out for dinner

I recently got a parking ticket in Norway at what I thought was a souvenir shop car park. Fair enough, I was parked outside the marked spaces - but of course there were no available spaces. I wasn't causing an obstruction and I didn't see any signs about parking. There were no ANPR cameras, it was done by a bloke with a yellow jersey and a printing machine. I sent in an appeal saying I thought there should be signs with regulations but I hadn't seen any. I can't be sure if there was or there wasn't. Anyway the fine was the equivalent of £70. I got a nice response saying that in view of the facts I had presented they were withdrawing the penalty notice. I took my wife out for our wedding anniversary dinner which cost £73.
There might be signs put up now . . . . . .or maybe they realise they can't realistically pursue UK drivers. Anyway it was nice to be let off.

 

[GeoffL]

Casual observations tells me they don't ticket cars with drivers in them .
Possibly for legal reasons or just because driver could drive off ?

Someone I know is a Council traffic warden. Unlike those employed by private parking companies, he gets no commission from issuing tickets -- for that, he 'wins' some paperwork for every ticket he issues. So, people sat in their cars with no 'pay and display' on show, get a rap on the window and a polite request to pay up or leave and those that refuse to do so get a ticket. AFAICT, you park if you stop in a parking place. However, you must be afforded a reasonable time to actually read (and so accept or reject) the T&Cs and those T&Cs must be prominently displayed. You must be afforced time to read the T&Cs, reject them and then leave. Thus if the OP took a route whereby they couldn't reasonably have seen the signage, or that signage failed to mention the open times, there should be a defence of inadequate signage. AFAICT (but I'm not a lawyer) merely directing 'customers' to a web site is insufficient since there's no reasonable expectation of your being able to access that web site at the time of parking. (JMHO)