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Parking Company Collapses, Travelers at LGW Can’t Find Their Cars

Gatwick First Parking, which offered its services to passengers at London Gatwick Airport (LGW), ceased trading last week without warning, leaving returning travelers unable to locate their cars.

A parking company based at London Gatwick Airport (LGW) has ceased its operations without warning, leaving many returning travelers unable to access their vehicles. Gatwick First Parking stopped trading late last week, the Metro reports, with the head of the company, named as Umar Irshad, unable to be traced.

The company, which is not an officially affiliated parking agent of LGW, stored customers’ cars in numerous sites in the southern English counties of Sussex and Surrey, close to the airport. Authorities investigating the collapse of the company say that 120 cars have been discovered across these sites, but that they are unable to match 30 sets of keys to their associated vehicles.

Some of those who were eventually able to locate their cars upon their return to LGW arrived to find that their vehicles had been ticketed. Gatwick First Parking ran its operations out of a rented office in a town called Horley, close to the airport.

Grahame Dedman, of Dedman Properties Ltd., the company which rented the office to Gatwick First Parking, commented on the situation, saying, “We didn’t have any notice they were leaving so we were surprised. The first we heard of it was when police arrived at the offices on Saturday night because people thought their cars had been stolen while they were away on holiday. They hire the office space from us to do administrative things for the business but we don’t know where they keep the cars or anything like that.

His sympathies, he added, were with those travelers unable to locate their cars following the company’s demise. “We were shocked. I feel really sorry for the families who couldn’t find their cars,” Dedman said.

One traveler affected by the collapse of the company was 28-year-old Matthew Waring, who had just returned from vacation to find his car missing. He was only able to locate his vehicle after a 14-hour search.

“We eventually found the car parked on an industrial estate [industrial park]. We thought it was going to be left in a secure car park, but it was just parked by a curb. I paid £60 ($78) for the parking and it looked like a legitimate site. But we now know that Gatwick Airport has approved parking firms, so I will use them from now on, “ he said.

The Gatwick Policing Team is currently investigating the situation. Sergeant Darren Taylor offered his comments on the collapse of Gatwick First Parking, saying, “It’s essential that Gatwick Airport passengers use official on-airport parking, or companies registered with Gatwick’s off-airport approved parking operators scheme only, to avoid this sort of thing from happening.”

The immediate priority, he added, was to locate and return vehicles to their owners as swiftly as possible.

An LGW spokesperson apologized to passengers for any distress caused by the collapse of the company, but reiterated that, “…Gatwick Airport has no relationship with Gatwick First Parking as it is not an officially approved off-airport parking operator.”

Gatwick Airport strongly recommends that passengers use official on-airport parking or companies registered with Gatwick’s off-airport approved parking operators’ scheme. More information about the scheme can be found here,” the spokesperson said.

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