Travellers warned about airport meet and greet parking
Air passengers are being warned to stick to approved airport parking companies after further complaints about meet and greet services at London Gatwick.
Sussex police are investigating a company called Gatwick Sky Parking after complaints from customers that their cars were damaged and were covered in mud when they came back from their trip.
The company is the latest to be investigated following similar complaints about other meet and greet operators accused of leaving cars in insecure car parks and even on residential streets.
"The rise in popularity of meet and greet parking has meant there have been a few companies in recent years that have behaved appallingly," said a spokeswoman for the British Parking Association.
The association runs a scheme called Park Mark, where car parks are assessed anually and must demonstrate ‘excellent parking facilities with surveillance systems, good management practices and have low to zero crime’.
To get the Park Mark badge, meet and greet operators must only use car parks which have been approved.
"Gatwick Airport decided to launch its own scheme of approved operators whose membership is conditional on them having the Park Mark award and Trading Standards’ Buy with Confidence scheme. Not all UK airports have their own scheme however," said the spokeswoman.
Gatwick Airport said it advises all passengers to use its own on-site parking facilities or one of its approved off-site parking partners.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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