Car park users under fire over misuse of electric charging spaces

The council said it was aware of motorists parking up in spaces allocated for hybrid and electric vehicles at Wellgate multi-storey.

But parking staff are issuing “polite notices” to the drivers involved after spaces at Forge Island and Sheffield Road became unavailable due to flood defence works and new housing plans.

The council’s assistant director of community safety and street scene, Tom Smith, said: “In response to ongoing regeneration work at Forge Island and Sheffield Road car parks, we have allowed joint usage of the electric vehicle bays at Wellgate car park in order to maximise as much town centre customer parking as possible.  

“We appreciate this has resulted in occasional use of the charging bays by non-users due to the car park being at almost full capacity.

“However, the bays clearly marked up as EV charging bays on the ground are nearly always available, and we have received only one report in the six months the scheme has been in operation that a charging point bay wasn't available.

“We will continue to monitor car park usage as well as the signage for this new scheme and whether penalty notices become necessary. 

“In the mean time, we will be carrying out patrols as well as issuing polite notices to non-electric vehicle users, requesting that they do not use the charging bays at peak times.”

One motorist said: “It happens every Saturday in the multi-storey — all non-hybrid cars in EV charging places.

“I am not a driver of an electric car but would be really unhappy if I was and needed to charge my car.”