I have joined the 100-plus people who have received a parking charge at Cradle Bridge while shopping at M&S Food Hall. The time on site was 39 min 04 seconds, which time included driving onto and exiting the site, parking, collecting a trolley and shopping in M&S; the time being accurate as they are taken from the photos kindly included in the parking charge notification.
The sheer number of people receiving a ticket over such a short period of time must surely indicate that there is something wrong here? The parking signs on the other side of the bridge for the Odeon etc are much more visible and are less likely to be missed. 
Looking at how much the failure to provide a parking ticket 
costs Smart Parking Limited, we see that the cost to them is nothing at all. Nothing by way of cost as there is no additional outlay. The camera operates as a matter of course, nothing by way of loss of paid parking time because I, like most others, were not over the free parking limit.
Smart Parking Limited quote the case in the Supreme Court of Parking Eye v Beavis on the parking charge notice and prominently on their website (shame parking signs and machines aren’t so prominently displayed at M&S). However, the online link provided by Smart Parking Ltd to this case does not work and it looks more as though this case was about overstaying the parking time. Now, what could be the purpose of quoting this case? Arrogance? Intimidation?
The parking requirement on sites varies and it is confusing to many people. Sainsbury’s car park operates a camera but does not require a ticket. Why? because it operates a camera (sound familiar?). Simple! At Trowbridge hospital the licence number has to be keyed in and so on and so forth.
One thing is for sure and that is that this spurious action has generated a huge amount of ill will at a time when the town should be celebrating the regeneration of Marks & Spencer in the town.
Janet Dapson
Via email