On top of losing her job, Sandie Hickman is now being pursued for parking fines (Picture: MEN Media)

Things really have gone from bad to worse for former Wilko worker Sandie Hickman.

After working for the iconic British high street retailer for 16 years, she was one of thousands of employees in the UK who lost their job when the business collapsed.

But seeing her career with the company she had served with unwavering loyalty slip away was sadly just the tip of the iceberg. 

To add insult to injury, the 57-year-old is being mercilessly pursued by a parking company for fines she amassed while working at the Wilko store in Selby, North Yorkshire.

She used to park in the nearby Abbey Walk car park where an agreement was in place between Wilko and Vehicle Control Service (VCS) to allow workers to stay longer than the two-hour limit.

When fines were previously issued against her, Sandie had the support of Wilko and the GMB Union to fight the charges.

However, since Wilko slipped into administration, she has been chased for the fines directly and left feeling vulnerable, alone and even physically ill at the threat of court action.

The parking fines Sandie is being chased for have rubbed salt in the wound (Picture: MEN Media)

‘We’d always parked in that car park just fine before – there was an agreement with VCS and Wilko,’ Sandie said. ‘we were allowed to stay longer than the maximum time so we could do our shifts. 

‘I’d never had a problem before but I changed my car in February 2022 and gave the new details to my managers like I was supposed to.

‘They were meant to give the details to VCS so they could know that we were staff parking there. 

‘I got the first fine on April 4 [2022]. It was obviously a shock when it came through but I didn’t know what was going to happen.’

Sandie worked at the Wilko store in Selby, North Yorkshire for 16 years until the company went into administration and she was made redundant (Picture: Google)

Despite following the Wilko protocol, Sandie was issued with a further 14 fines for parking at her workplace between April and June 2022.

Wilko requested that Sandie hand over all 15 fines to her manager but she kept receiving more letters of demand after doing so. 

Fearing the vehicle change was the reason behind the constant fines, Sandie consulted with her colleagues who told her they had also been issued penalty notices through the same period of time.

Wilko workers were being fined even though they were parking within the terms of the agreement and there were also discrepancies with the timestamps on the ANPR images.

The letter Sandie had been dreading landed on her doormat in February this year – VCS said they were taking her to court.

Sandie was parking in the Abbey Walk car park (Picture: Google)

According to the letter from VCS, the first two fines that had been issued against her had escalated beyond final demands, meaning she now faced legal action. 

‘I was willing to fight it,’ she said. ‘I knew there was the agreement. I know I’m in the right. 

‘I wish now that I’d been able to go through with it because I think it would have made me think differently about what is still happening.’

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Wilko’s HR department said they ‘did not want their team member to be stressed’, so they stepped in during the 28-day period and fully paid off the two fines before Sandie was able to defend herself in court.

Then in July, Sandie received another final demand on a third fine before a letter of claim in September – but Wilko had gone into administration in August 2023.

After the last remaining Wilko stores shut their doors for the final time on October 8, Sandie was suddenly left to battle the parking fines on her own.

The original Wilko stores closed for the last time in October this year (Picture: EPA)

She said: ‘I’d worked there for 16 years overall and then just like that, I’d lost my job and I still had this hanging over me. I had the union and HR helping me but when the job went so did all that support.

‘I still have 12 fines that I know are out there somewhere, they’re waiting to send to me. It makes me feel sick. Every time the letters come through or I have to make a phone call about it, I get so agitated.

‘It’s made me physically ill, I’m on medication anyway and the stress of the last few months has just made everything worse. I just don’t know where to turn, where to go next, how to make it go away.’

Sandie contacted Wilko administrators PWC for help, who in turn asked Sandie to contact VCS for the full details of all the fines against her that are held on their system. 

VCS confirmed there were 12 other fines on the system but said that due to GDPR requirements, her request could take up to a month to fulfil, well outside of the timeframes that PWC are operating within.

To Sandie’s frustration, she has since found out that at least five other colleagues facing similar fines have had theirs waived by VCS, leaving her feeling like she is being singled out. 

Sandie turned to her local MP Keir Mather who’s office said he was yet to be able to speak to VCS directly about the matter. 

‘Knowing that there are 12 more fines to come through and that I might keep having to go through this over and over makes me feel ill,’ said Sandie.

‘I just can’t understand how they can cancel other people’s fines but not mine, it feels like VCS is singling me out for some reason. I just want them to see sense, to have some compassion and think about how this is affecting me.’

A representative from Vehicle Control Services Ltd said: ‘The Abbey Walk Retail Park Car Park has a maximum stay period of 2 hours which is monitored by ANPR cameras. 

‘An agreement exists with our client to exempt certain car park users from the maximum stay, on the condition that the vehicle registration mark is provided in line with an agreed process.

‘In this instance no such exemption request was made. We are satisfied the Parking Charges were correctly issued and will communicate with Sandie Hickman directly to attempt to resolve matters.’

The Wilko brand was bought out by rival The Range and new standalone stores will be opening across the UK in the coming months.

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The 57-year-old says the threat of court action is making her physically ill.