Victory! Parking bosses will refund ALL tickets handed out by dodgy wardens who scammed motorists by changing the times on photos to fine legally parked cars

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A private parking firm whose staff were caught doctoring photo times to issue overstay tickets has finally apologised and offered full refunds to customers after being exposed by MailOnline.

Dozens of drivers contacted MailOnline after being stung with fines in car parks run by UK Parking Control - which is responsible for supermarkets, retail centres and even NHS car parks around the country - despite having left the site well within the allotted time.

When they have approached the firm for photographic evidence, the drivers have been sent images that show their vehicle in the car park at a time it was not there.

Driver Neil Horton claims he was given a ticket after parking his car in a UKPC site for just 15 minutes. Photographic evidence suggested he left his vehicle at the site for almost two hours but Mr Horton believes the images were taken at the same time as they both feature the same car in the background with its boot open

Jade Beeby was given a fine after parking in a UKPC-managed car park Tritton Retail Park, Lincoln. She says the shadow cast by her car suggests the pictures were taken soon after each other. Other cars are also visible in the same parking spaces in both images

UKPC  - which is now at the centre of a probe by the City of London's fraud squad - has now admitted that members of staff - who have since left the firm - exploited a 'loophole' in the firm's photograph system.

The company has now offered full refunds to all customers who were given tickets by staff members now under investigation, even those that it believes may be legitimate.

Finally breaking its silence on the matter, the company said that the customers affected won't have to apply for refunds - the money will automatically appear in their accounts in the next few days. 

But the Uxbridge-based firm refused to confirm how many staff had been dismissed and how widespread the problem was, insisting matters were 'still under investigation'.

A spokesman said: 'We regret to confirm that a limited number of pictures of vehicles, at a small number of car parks, have had their timestamp altered by a few of our employees to make it appear as though the vehicles had over-stayed when this was not the case.

'We have taken this issue extremely seriously and decided that even though a number of the relevant parking charges are likely to have been legitimately issued, we will refund all potentially affected parking charges for over-stays issued by these employees, to ensure that there is no room for error.

Simone Riley-Young was given a ticket in the same car park. Photographs said she had arrived at the car park 55 minutes before she did (left). The second picture suggested she was parked for more than two hours (right) and again the car is casting a similar shadow despite the supposed passage of time

'The repayments will be refunded automatically to drivers’ bank accounts over the next few days. Disciplinary action is in progress in relation to the relevant employees and therefore our solicitors inform us that we are unable to comment further in that regard.' 

Meanwhile, the British Parking Association -  which vowed to issue a 'scheme of sanctions' if the 'tampering' allegations are proved - urged motorists to launch appeals against their parking tickets.

It means thousands of fines issued by the firm - which has 1,400 sites and 200 employees nationwide - could be in dispute across the country. 

One of the drivers affected was Neil Horton, who claims he was given a ticket after parking his car in a UKPC site for just 15 minutes - despite the car park providing 90 minutes for free.

When he received photographic evidence over the fine, the pictures suggested he had left his vehicle at the site in Newcastle-under-Lyme for almost two hours.

But Mr Horton is convinced the images were in fact taken at the same time - because they both feature the same car in the background with its boot open. 

Mr Horton, pictured at the car park in Newcastle-under-Lyme, has appealed to Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) which was rejected the appeal on the grounds that the site only allows a 90-minute stay

The furious motorist has now enlisted the help of Alex Shipp, who campaigns as the Parking Prankster, to investigate the incident.

The 61-year-old said: 'I went to Lidl supermarket to buy three items and was in the shop for no more than quarter of an hour. When I returned to my car I was astonished to see that I had received a fine.

'I immediately went back into the supermarket and the manager and myself came out to look for the parking attendant who had completely vanished. It is absolutely scandalous.' 

Mr Horton has appealed to Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) but it was rejected on the grounds that the site only allows a 90-minute stay. 

He has now responded with a further appeal urging the operator to take a closer look at the photographs. He has yet to receive a response.

Mr Horton said: 'They are not going to get a penny out of me.'  

Simone Riley-Young has also taken her appeal to POPLA and has warned that she is 'not going to back down'

Another motorist who claims she was affected was Simone Riley-Young, who was given a ticket after parking her car in a UKPC-managed car park Tritton Retail Park, Lincoln.

Ms Riley-Young parked for one hour and 40 minutes because the car park offered two hours' free parking.

But when she returned to her car, she was handed a fine that claimed her car had been parked there for two hours and 20 minutes. She says there was even a time stamp showing it was there 55 minutes earlier than she had arrived.

The parking ticket issue to Ms Riley-Young, who is from Sheffield

'I was meeting a friend in the car park and she arrived there about ten minutes before me so she knows what time I actually arrived,' Ms Riley-Young said. 

'When we returned to our cars, under the two hours' free time, I found that I had a fine and I just laughed. I genuinely thought it was human error as there was no way I was at the car park at 7:15am - I was still in bed.

'When I was appealing against the fine, I had no worries because I knew that I was in the right, so I was really shocked when UKPC rejected my appeal.'

The driver has also taken her appeal to POPLA, which provided photographic evidence apparently showing her vehicle on site almost an hour earlier than she says it was.

'The two photos must have been taken at the same time because the shadows in both images have not moved,' she said. 

'I'm not going to back down. Having spoken to Alex Shipp I think I've got the backing of other people to highlight this as fraud.'

Jade Beeby says she was also targeted in the same car park in in May.

The former Lincoln University student arrived at the car park at 12:40pm to give herself time to get to her exam at the university at 1pm. Her exam finished at 3pm and she said she returned to her car about 20 minutes later. 

But, despite there being a three hour grace period, she was fined.  

She said: 'When I received photographic evidence from UKPC, it said I had parked my car at 9:35am but that isn't true - I was having a birthday breakfast in Nottingham until 10am.

'I battled with everybody to try to get the fine dropped but in the end I paid the £100 because it just got too much.

'I know that I was in the right but no one would believe me and it was just not worth all the hassle.'

Driver Shell Neil said she had experienced the same issue at a site in Canterbury.

The 25-year-old said she had parked in a UKPC car park for about an hour while she went to the gym and had then left to drive her mother to a physiotherapy appointment in London. 

But she was later sent a fine, with images which showed her car apparently parked on the site during her mother's appointment.

She initially wanted to fight the fine, and contacted the firm to complain, but became increasingly 'frightened' about being hauled before the courts when she did not hear anything back. 

She told MailOnline: 'I was allowed to park for free for up to three hours and was parked for less than an hour. But when I got my ticket through, it said I had been there in the afternoon - while I was in London.

'I Googled so many options about what to do but they were almost impossible to get hold of. I wrote an email and appealed the fine, but I heard nothing back. I then worried that the fine would be doubled, or I would be taken to court, so I just paid the £100.

'They know that it frightens you and that most people won't put up the fight.' 

Simon Hall was caught out when he parked in a UKPC car park near to the Job Centre and McDonald's in Liverpool. 

As a customer of those two services, he was allowed to park for up to 90 minutes for free.

But he later received a fine from the company, saying he had parked wrongly because he had not used the two services. Mr Hall had both used the Job Centre and bought himself a Big Mac. 

'I think they do it as a way of forcing to pay, because they know they will be too afraid to fight it,' he said.  

Mr Shipp said he deals with up to twenty emails per day relating to parking ticket inaccuracies through his blog. 

He claims to have spoken to a former UKPC employee who told him that wardens receive bonuses if they exceed their ticket targets.

'This is a deliberate manipulation of cameras. It's fraud. This needs to be investigated to see how far this practice has spread,' he said. 

Mr Shipp contacted the BPA to ask them to investigate. In a statement, the BPA explained that it could not comment on individual cases but confirmed they are currently investigating UKPC.

The statement said: 'The BPA does not tolerate evidence tampering. Parking management must be fair, reasonable and robust and POPLA exists so that motorists can seek redress for unfair parking practices.

'If POPLA concludes that breaches of the BPA's Code of Practice have occurred, the BPA will investigate and use a scheme of sanctions.

'By applying sanction points we have seen operators change their practices for the better. Multiple or continued breaches can and do lead to expulsion.' 

When contacted, POPLA said that it could not comment on individual cases. 

The City of London's National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has now launched a probe, Action Fraud confirmed. 

UKPC, which is hired by private landowners to manage parking, was set up in 2004 in Uxbridge and is run by managing directot Rupert J Williams. Accounts show the company has an £8.5m turnover. 

In a statement, the firm said: 'This is obviously completely contrary to UKPC’s operating procedure and the staff implicated and then investigated are no longer working for UKPC,' they said. 

'The company’s software has been reviewed and updated to close the loophole.'     

In 2011, the company was taken to court by East Riding of Yorkshire Council in a case which cost the body £41,000. It was found guilty of one count of misleading customers, but acquitted of a further seven counts. 

The court case followed complaints from East Riding residents who were issued with fines for either parking over the bay lines or for parking in Tesco for more than the permitted two hours.

That decision was later overturned on appeal.  

• Have you ever worked for UKPC? Phone 02036151786 or email steph.cockroft@mailonline.co.uk