Google Streetview is well out of date for signage, but does show the layout of the site.
The car park location is confusing because there are actually 6 separate areas, with no clear demarcation between them.
Area 1 - Trevithick Road Short Stay car park area (a)
This area is only accessible from Trevithick Road by driving over the lowered pavement. It is separated from the other areas by a raised area containing small trees. There are no signs in this area to say which car park it belongs to.
Area 2 - Trevithick Road Short Stay car park area (b)
This area is only accessible by entering from the Trevithick road first entrance and turning immediately left.
Area 3 - Argos employee car park
This area is only accessible by entering from the Trevithick road first entrance and turning immediately right.
Area 4 - Trevithick Road Short Stay car park area (c)
This area is only accessible by entering from the Trevithick road second entrance. It is separated from the other areas by a raised area containing small trees. There are no signs in this area to say which car park it belongs to.
Area 5 - Private car park
This area is only accessible by entering from the Trevithick road first entrance and turning left at the wall. This is apparently a private car park, also controlled by Armtrac and with the same signage, but not part of Trevithick Road Short Stay car park. There are no signs in this area to say which car park it belongs to.
Area 6 - Tyacks Hotel pay and display car park
This area is only accessible by entering from the Trevithick road first entrance and turning right at the wall. This is a private car park, also controlled by Armtrac and with the same signage, but not part of Trevithick Road Short Stay car park
Pay Machine P1
This is for the Trevithick Road Short Stay car park. It is not in the car park itself, but over the road round the corner behind the Argos store. It is not visible from areas 1 or 2, as the photo below shows.
There are no signs in the car park itself directing the user towards the pay machine.
There is a non-standard 'pay here' sign over the other side of the road high up under the awning of the Argos store and hidden in shadow, making it non-readable, as the photo below shows.
Pay Machine P2
This is for the Tyacks Hotel car park. It is visible from areas 1 and 2. There is a huge sign with an arrow, apparently in the Trevithick Road Short Stay car park, and apparently directing motorists to the pay machine.
The Scam
Motorists unfamiliar with the area cannot find the correct pay and display machine, because it is hidden around the corner. They see a sign with an arrow pointing to the only visible machine, apparently within the same car park, and pay there.
According to local office workers who can see the car park, Armtrac employees lie in wait in their van in area 4, watching what happens. As soon as a victim leaves the car park they pounce and issue a parking charge.
This can be very lucrative in holiday season when many people make the same mistake.
Prankster Note
The Prankster understands it is natural for bottom-feeding parking companies like Armtrac to gravitate to the IPC, where predatory practices like this are condoned by Will Hurley and John Davies.
The Prankster believes that this is not the way car parks should be managed, and that a proper car park company would sign its car park appropriately, clearly demarking the limits of the car park, and clearly signing the way to the pay machines, especially when the pay machine is not even in the car park and is hidden around a corner.
The Prankster also believes that a proper trade association would act to stop practices like this, and would have a quiet word to the operator to improve the signage.
However, The Prankster accepts that running a trade association in a proper way would hurt the bank balance of Will Hurley and John Davies,because they would not be able to make so much money from their other business, Gladstone Solicitors, who file claims on behalf of Armtrac when motorists pay at the wrong machine in this car park.
The Prankster therefore predicts a busy caseload at Truro Country Court.
Any motorist who accidentally paid at the wrong machine in the last 6 years can contact The Prankster for advice at prankster@parking-prankster.com. You may be able to get your £100 back and claim for a data protection breach in the range of £250-£650.
Happy Parking
The Parking Prankster
Having seen Mick "Binman" Cooke's picture your comments are grossly unfair to binmen, no self respecting binman would look like him unless they had been on the pi55 all night and fell into a septic tank.But no doubt he wont give a toss so long as motorist keep caughing up.
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