ONE of Basildon’s busiest car parks has been shut down after it was discovered it was being run illegally.

The bowl, in Station Way, was forced to close by the landowner who discovered South Essex Parking Partnership was charging people to park there without permission.

Chelmsford City Council runs South Essex Parking Partnership and is responsible for car parks, parking fines and traffic wardens across Basildon, Castle Point, Chelmsford, Brentwood, Maldon and Rochford.

Residents have attacked parking bosses over whether parking fines issued by the partnership were illegal, and whether those who have been given a ticket could sue.

Taxi driver Ralph Morgan, 72, from Vange, said: “I know so many people who have been given parking tickets there.

“If the car park has been run illegally then you have to ask whether those parking tickets that were given were illegal.”

He added the closure, which was executed on Monday until further notice, has made taxi drivers lose business because they cannot stop at the bowl to pick up commuters.

The unlawful operation was revealed after the Homes and Communities Agency, the Government agencywhich owns the land, reviewed its books.

It realised no agreement had ever been drawn up with SEPP to charge people to park there.

Because it was unaware of the car park’s existence, it could not confirm how long the operation has been going on.

A HCA spokesman said: “It seems there was someone down there running a car park which we never knew about.

“The station site has been operated as a car park without the legal interest in place.

“We have been trying to contact the operators for six months, with no response.”

Kerry Smith, councillor for Nethermayne, also an Essex county councillor, said: “There is nowhere for people to stop and park when their friends or family members come off the train.

“The landowner has been way too heavy handed.

“People need to use the car park – some of them are vulnerable.

“It needs to be reopened to serve them now the problem has been identified.

“Residents who have suffered parking fines at the bowl should have the money reimbursed if the car park was illegal.”

The Echo approached the partnership for comment, but a spokesman was unavailable.

A councillor has also questioned whether the parking tickets issued at the bowl were legal, and called on parking bosses to reveal where profits have gone.

South Essex Partnership is responsible for parking enforcement throughout the district and is in charge of traffic wardens, car parks and parking fines.

Andrew Buxton, councillor for St Martin’s ward, the area where the car park is located, said: “If it has been used illegally the public need to know where the money has gone.

“Another issue is whether the parking tickets issued down there were issued legally if there wasn’t a proper contract.

“Also councils pay for the car park so what are they going to do about it?

“I’m also not happy the car park is closed because people need to use it.”