'My van's been trapped in car park for two years'

8 April 2025

Matt Graveling

BBC News

Mark Lucas says they have had "little or no response" on when they might get the van back

BBC Mark Lucas is seen in a flat cap and glasses stands in a woodworking shop, surrounded by tools and wooden shelving units. — Mark Lucas says they have had "little or no response" on when they might get the van back

The owners of a small family-run business say they have been left £40,000 out of pocket after their van became trapped in a mechanical stacked car park in central London more than two years ago.

Mark Lucas, co-owner of HCS Furniture in Buckinghamshire, parked his electric Vauxhall van at Rathbone Square, a building complex near Oxford Street, in December 2022.

After being unable to retrieve the van because of a "mechanical malfunction" in the car park, he was told in January 2023 that new parts were required by engineers but 26 months on, no update has been provided.

The BBC has approached Rathbone Square and the car park installer, Double Parking Systems, for comment.

A stacked car park is a system where cars are parked on top of each other, using mechanical platforms and lifts, in order to save ground on space.

Automated stacked car parks are increasingly being used in city centres globally (image not of Rathbone Square parking system)

Getty Images A high-tech, multi-level automated car park with concrete walls and tracks. Multiple cars are neatly slotted into mechanical platforms, while a red sedan is being transported on a motorised rail system in the foreground. — Automated stacked car parks are increasingly being used in city centres globally (image not of Rathbone Square parking system)

"It was about six o'clock that evening, we went back to the concierge and said, 'can we have the van back":[]}