Airport parking firm 'left holidaymakers stranded'

A woman has spoken of her "nightmare" experience of trying to find her car at Gatwick Airport, after using a meet and greet firm she claims are scam operators.

Lauren James from Worcestershire booked with iPark at Gatwick while away in France, but returned to find she and dozens of other holidaymakers were left stranded trying to find their cars.

They tracked some vehicles to a site outside the airport and along with police found some were dirty, items had been taken, or some left in a short-stay car park with owners facing bills of hundreds of pounds.

iPark Ltd could not be reached for comment. The airport said it was aware of rogue third-party companies operating and was working with police.

James said she called the firm as directed when she landed from Bordeaux in France on Sunday to prompt them to return her car from off-site parking, but when it kept going straight to voicemail "alarm bells were already going off".

She and her friend decided to go the car park where they had dropped her car off, and found another woman waiting who said she had already had to stay overnight for her car to be returned.

More people started appearing, she said, and she and her friend then searched all six storeys of the NCP car park looking for her car.

"About this point there was about 60 people waiting for their cars - young children, families and the elderly. It was really quite upsetting," she said.

Unable to find her car, she said some people managed to track their vehicles together in the same location, about a seven-minute drive from the airport, so they all "hopped into Ubers" to get there.

"The police were on site. There was a car with about four men and a boot was open and there was just a boot-full of car keys in individual plastic wallets," she added.

"It gets worse - some people's cars hadn't been taken out of the short-stay car park, so they've got back from holiday and they've been whacked with £500-plus worth of fines to actually be able to exit the car park.

"People's cars had been left filthy, muddy. Petrol had been used. People had things stolen from their cars - disability badges and service books - which is all quite bizarre and strange.

"My car was on this site - they [the firm] have quite a few sites - but the wheels were covered in some kind of concretey-mud."

She said she did not think anything had been taken from her car, but said "it really was quite a nightmare".

"It's all just very worrying. It doesn't really make sense."

She said she booked the firm through an airport parking comparison website but had since been told by police that the site and the firm might be linked.

She said she had continued to call the company and emailed them but heard nothing. She had also contacted the airport but not received a reply.

"It just seems crazy that they allow these people who are repeat offenders to keep entering their car parks," she added.

"By the end of the day there were hundreds of cars on my site alone and we know there were at least two more sites so it's affecting thousands of people."

Oli Bedford, head of car parks at London Gatwick said: "We are aware of rogue third-party parking companies purporting to offer valet or meet-and-greet services operating at a number of airports.

"At London Gatwick we are actively addressing this issue by working closely with the police, trading standards, the British Parking Association (BPA) and our car park operator, as well as frequently running awareness messaging and advice via our social media channels.

"We would always recommend passengers book official London Gatwick parking for peace of mind, and there are other reputable companies who also offer alternatives."

Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.