The move by The Albert Club in Irish Street follows a legal precedent in Dundee, where a driver was ordered to pay £24,000 in unpaid charges to a private parking company.
Pledging a ‘tougher stance’ against drivers who abuse car parking at the club directly behind The Loreburne Shopping Centre, president Andrew Edgar said: “Our members expect to be able to use the private car parking facilities that they have paid for.
“We’ve seen abuse of the car park increasing year-on-year, and with the anticipated reduction of parking on the Whitesands the time is right for us to take tougher action.”
As a result, The Albert Club now say that members of the public who make use of their private car park will now be entering a contract with the club — and will be subject to charges.
Mr Edgar said: “We’ve introduced Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras, which will record all vehicles using the car park, and new signage clearly outlining the consequences.”
The club say that owners who have no authority to use the car park will be subject to a parking charge notice, effective from Monday.
And they say failing to pay will be seen as a breach of contract and the club can then take the motorist to court to recover their losses.
The Citizen’s Advice Service say that anyone who parks on private land without permission from the owner, or breaches any conditions imposed by the owner, may then be given a parking ticket.
A statement said: “This might look like an official fixed penalty but it isn’t one.
“It’s a notice that the owner of the car park or the private car park operator intends to take you to a civil court, and will offer to let you pay the charge to settle the case out of court.
“This is a civil matter, not a criminal one.”
