A car parking company broke advertising rules when it promoted a ‘secured car park’ at Gatwick Airport.

Skylink Parking Services was found by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to have misled customers through its descriptions of a car park at the airport that it claimed had ‘regular patrols, CCTV’ and a Pass Mark scheme accreditation. 

The advert on its website continued: “We ensure that security is a top priority at the car parks we offer, so you can rest assured your car is in good hands during your time away.”

The ASA ruling comes after someone who used the car park challenged Skylink’s claim that it was a secure location.

In response to the claim, Skylink reiterated that their car park was fully secure with a 24-hour manned presence and added that it had updated the terms on their website.

The ASA had asked Skylink to provide evidence of CCTV, and a human patrol schedule as well as proof of the car park’s accreditation with the Park Mark Scheme, but were not provided with any. 

The watchdog upheld the complaint saying: “[We] considered customers would understand ‘secure car park’ and ‘awarded with park mark, regular patrols, and CCTV’ to mean that their car would be kept within a car park that was registered with the park mark scheme and was monitored by CCTV and human patrols at regular intervals across a 24-hour period, for the duration of their booking. We did not receive any evidence to substantiate the claims, and we therefore concluded that the claims were misleading.”

The ASA ruled that the ad must not appear again in its current form, and told Skylink to ensure that it did not imply cars were parked at secure locations with CCTV or were patrolled by security unless it held evidence to prove it claims.