I agree that the signage is not particularly clear in that car park. The fact that the car park is attached to the Sainsburys can be misleading. Also, the last time I was there the machine was playing up, as half of the buttons weren't working. So if you were unfortunate enough to have the numbers in your numberplate that were the broken buttons then it was very difficult to obtain a ticket. I spent a good 5 minutes at the machine, in the end I only managed to get it to issue a ticket by jabbing the buttons very hard with a key. I didn't realise there was another machine.

I don't agree that without a ticket they wouldn't know how long you had been there. They certainly manage to monitor the cars parked in the free 30 minutes spots everywhere else in Forest Hill (having been on the receiving end of a parking ticket when I got back to my car 2 minutes late).

The Perry Vale car park is the same, you also need a ticket for the free parking, which is not obvious either but I am always careful to do after a parking officer warned me about it. But why don't they have a ticket machine at the other end of the car park, near to the Royal Mail office? I have to park the car near to the ticket machine, get the ticket, and then get back in the car and drive to the other end of the car park (before anyone asks why I don't just walk across the car park, it is because I usually have children with me and there are no paths for pedestrians so I don't feel particularly safe as some cars drive quite fast round that car park).

It wouldn't hurt to have a few large signs in these car parks saying YOU NEED A TICKET FOR FREE PARKING

With all these fantastic new shops in Forest Hill, we are attracting more non-locals to the centre, who aren't familiar with the car parks - what a welcome to Forest Hill, getting a parking ticket!