Unauthorised airport car park grows despite stop notice

An aerial view of a large open-air car park. There are hundreds of cars lined up bumper to bumper, parked on gravel. There is a grey warehouse in the distance. The car park is surrounded by trees.

Image source, John Fairhall/BBCImage caption,

New Farm, near the village of Elsenham, Essex, started offering alternative parking to Stansted Airport in early 2025

ByGabby Colenso, East Investigations and Alex Murray, BBC Verify

Published27 minutes ago

An unauthorised car park near Stansted Airport has grown by nearly two-thirds since it was served with an enforcement notice to shut, a BBC investigation has found.

The facility was set up in early 2025 at New Farm, near the village of Elsenham, Essex, offering an alternative, cheaper option to nearby Stansted Airport.

But customers described scenes of "mayhem" when they returned from holiday to find overcrowded transport, along with damaged and dirty cars and long waits for collection.

The business directors and a service provider linked to the site have not responded to requests for comment and Uttlesford District Council, which issued the notice, said it would continue to monitor until an appeal was heard.

'It was mayhem'

Mark Reardon stands wearing a white T-shirt in front of a dark grey 4x4 vehicle looking at the camera. He is squinting slightly because of the sunlight and has sunglasses on the top of his head. The sky behind him is blue with thin, whispy clouds.

Image source, Gabby Colenso/BBCImage caption,

Mark Reardon said his rear number plate was sitting on his windscreen and his vehicle had suffered damage

Mark Reardon, from near Swaffham, Norfolk, said he had been shocked by the condition of his vehicle held at the car park after returning from a family holiday in Spain in June.

"The seats had all been laid down. It looked like someone had been sleeping in it because we had blankets in the car and they'd all been moved," he said.

His rear number plate was sitting on his windscreen and his vehicle had suffered damage, including a broken door handle and scrape marks.

"I just don't know how they can run a place like this. It was absolute mayhem," he said.

The New Farm site covers about seven acres (three hectares) and was formerly agricultural land.

The land was rapidly converted into a car park without permission for a change of use and it can now hold up to 1,000 cars at a time.

Uttlesford District Council issued an enforcement notice last summer to the occupier at New Farm ordering the "unauthorised use of the site to stop".

Aurangzaib Cheema, who was listed as an owner of SC Parking Ltd on Companies House, appealed the notice. They told the council the firm had future bookings to honour and cancelling them would have a detrimental impact on the company's income.

The appeal means it can continue trading until the case is heard by the Planning Inspectorate, which is not expected before 2027.

Image gallerySkip image gallery

Image source, Deb JordanImage caption,
The customers said the transport from the airport to the car park was chaotic
Image source, Mark ReardonImage caption,
Mark Reardon believes someone had been sleeping in his car while they were on holiday
Image source, SuppliedImage caption,
Customers have said they returned from holiday to find their cars were scratched or dented
Image source, Jane and Daisy FullerImage caption,
Jane and Daisy Fully said their car had been moved and parked on broken concrete at New Farm

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Previous imageNext imageSlide 1 of 4, A composite image of a group of people squashed into a car with luggage on their laps. , The customers said the transport from the airport to the car park was chaoticEnd of image gallery

Jane Fuller, from Hadleigh, Suffolk, said her daughter's car had been left unlocked for 22 hours in April.

"My daughter has an app on her phone and she managed to lock it from Croatia," she said.

"When we eventually got back to the car park, we had to hunt for it in the dark. We found it parked on top of rubble. It was a shocking experience," she added.

Deb Jordan, from Ely, Cambridgeshire, said the transport to the car park from the airport in May with her family had been "an absolute hazard".

She said passengers had been left stranded at Stansted Airport for more than three hours after landing.

"They piled two busloads of angry people onto one small transit minibus," she said.

"Luggage was piled on top of passengers. I had a pushchair wedged over my head."

On arrival at the car park, Jordan said the family had been given the keys to someone else's car.

Several customers said they had been charged an additional £20 on arrival at the car park to pay for transport to the Radisson Blu Hotel at Stansted Airport, from where they then had to walk to the airport.

They were also told to meet at the location at the airport on their return after ringing drivers at New Farm once they had landed.

Amelia Palmer stands wearing a black T-shirt in front of brick wall and a plant with flowers to the left. To the right there is garden furniture in the distance.

Image source, Gabby Colenso/BBCImage caption,

Amelia Palmer said a weekend away had resulted in damage to her car

Some customers said they believed they had booked through reputable comparison websites.

Amelia Palmer, from near Maidstone, Kent, said she had decided to book a weekend away to Italy as a treat for one of her daughters, but her car was damaged at the car park while she was away in June and she had struggled to obtain compensation.

"I was quite disappointed because something that was meant to be a nice treat for my daughter, and it has now resulted in damage to our car.

"The added stress, the upset that we've paid for a service and it's not as it should be," she said.

Ongoing investigations

The BBC approached Cheema and Abdul Rehman, the new director listed for SC Parking Ltd, for comment and did not receive a response.

Uttlesford District Council said it was a complex case with "various agencies involved."

A spokesperson said the authority would continue to monitor the site and assess any new reports received to determine whether they fall within the scope of the existing enforcement notice.

Essex Trading Standards said it had not received enough complaints to justify a formal investigation.

Travel Extra Deals Ltd, which owns a comparison site used by some of the car park's customers, said it had issued the operator with a final warning and would stop sending bookings if further complaints were received.

The company said it would review unresolved cases, provide refunds where appropriate and offered an apology on behalf of the operator.

The BBC put customers' complaints to Park Pilot Ltd, the company named on customers confirmation emails as the service provider, as well as the writing to management at New Farm, but neither responded.

The Radisson Blu Hotel at Stansted Airport said it was aware of concerns. Its general manager, Dinesh Kunder, said: "We would like to stress, the hotel has no commercial agreement nor affiliation with this company."

Stansted Airport's managing director, Gareth Powell, urged customers to choose authorised parking providers, check reviews and report concerns to Essex Trading Standards via the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.