Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking is a 1971 court case about when parking terms become part of a contract. It may be relevant if a charge or important term was not shown until after a driver entered a parking area.
What happened in the case?
Mr Thornton drove into a car park and took a ticket from a machine at the entrance. The ticket referred to terms that tried to limit the car park owner's responsibility for injuries.
The Court of Appeal decided that the contract had already been made when Mr Thornton took the ticket. The terms shown on or with the ticket came too late to become part of the contract.
The main idea
Important terms need to be brought to someone's attention before a contract is made. A particularly unusual or onerous term may need to be made especially clear.
Why it may matter at an airport
At a drop-off zone, a driver may enter the area before seeing a clear sign explaining the charge. If the price or terms were not visible before the driver entered, they may argue that they were not shown in time.
Check the signs and road layout for your airport. Our guides explain the local details for Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Manchester and Birmingham.
How this links to signage
The case and the BPA signage rules both concern whether the driver was shown the terms clearly and in time. Describe what you saw and where the signs were. Our airport appeal templates include a point about terms that were not clearly shown before entry.
Sources
- Thornton v Shoe Lane Parking Ltd [1970] EWCA Civ 2; [1971] 2 QB 163, Court of Appeal judgment. Primary. BAILII judgment
- Case summary (ticket machine, exclusion clause, "unusual or onerous" terms, contract formed at the machine). Secondary. Ipsa Loquitur
- Lord Denning's passage on offer and acceptance at ticket machines, quoted from the judgment. Secondary. Steve Hedley
- Wikipedia entry on the case (court, judges and citation). Secondary. Wikipedia
- ParkingEye Ltd v Beavis [2015] UKSC 67, press summary. Primary. Supreme Court press summary (PDF)