Bold Lane
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Bold Lane is a street in
Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
. It was said to hold one of the most secure places in the world, a
multi-storey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...
. The car park is a 10-floor building with 440 parking bays, it is open 24 hours a day. Operated by Parksafe Systems, it has been listed as one of the most secure places in the world in a general interest news report. Security experts are generally amused by this claim, noting that bank vaults, prisons and military bases are generally seen as more secure. Competing
car parks A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surfac ...
in the area are cheaper and closer to the main shopping centre but Bold Lane is still frequently used by shoppers.


History

The land on which the car park now stands was opened as a park on 7 July 1910. It was donated to the city by
Temperance Union Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
activist Mary Shuttleworth, widow of lace magnate Henry Boden. Known as Boden's Pleasaunce, the land was
asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
ed after
the First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and then redeveloped in the early 1970s. The car park originally opened in 1974. The decorative wrought iron gates still stand next to the building and include the Boden's Crest and a plaque dedicated to
Henry Boden Henry Boden (13 February 1836 – 13 November 1908) was an English first-class cricketer. The son of Henry and Ann Boden, he was born at Derby in February 1836 and was educated at Rugby School. He was in business as a lace magnet in Derby, whe ...
. In the 1990s, the car park became a haven for beggars and gained a reputation as a venue for various anti-social behaviours – in 1997, there were 161 reported cases of criminal activities including drug abuse and muggings. Also in 1997,
Derby City Council Derby City Council is the local government unitary authority for Derby, a city in the East Midlands region of England. It comprises 51 councillors, three for each of the 17 electoral wards of Derby. Currently there is no overall control of the co ...
contracted with Parksafe Systems to run the car park as a partnership, in an attempt to turn around the worsening problems. Ken Wigley, security systems inventor and proprietor of Parksafe Systems, agreed to pay for the majority of the installation costs in return for a percentage of the car park's takings. After a period of upgrades, the facility reopened on 18 January 1998. Since that date, there have been no reported criminal activities and the car park has gained the reputation of a highly-secure building. In a study published by science magazine ''
BBC Focus ''BBC Science Focus'' (previously ''BBC Focus'') is a British monthly magazine about science and technology published in Bristol, UK by Immediate Media Company. Edited by Daniel Bennett, it covers all aspects of science and technology and is writ ...
'' in February 2003, the building was listed as one of the ten "most secure places in the world", alongside
Air Force One Air Force One is the official air traffic control designated call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the president of the United States. In common parlance, the term is used to denote U.S. Air Force aircraft modified and used ...
,
Area 51 Area 51 is the common name of a highly classified United States Air Force (USAF) facility within the Nevada Test and Training Range. A remote detachment administered by Edwards Air Force Base, the facility is officially called Homey Airport ...
, and
Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository, which is used to house a large portion of the United States' official gold res ...
.


Security systems

On entrance to the car park the driver is issued with a
barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...
d ticket. This barcode is scanned by a ticket machine and linked to a specific parking bay when the driver types in the bay number. This activates the specially-designed
motion sensor A motion detector is an electrical device that utilizes a sensor to detect nearby motion. Such a device is often integrated as a component of a system that automatically performs a task or alerts a user of motion in an area. They form a vital co ...
located in the ground beneath the car. When the driver returns they may only gain entrance to the building using their ticket and, on payment of the parking charges, the sensor is turned off. The sensor detects any movement of the car and triggers an alarm process if the associated parking ticket has not yet been marked as paid. As well as detecting the horizontal motion of the car being driven off the sensor also checks for vertical motion such as that caused by a person getting into the car. The car park is monitored by a control room operator using 190
CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
cameras and a computerised map of the building. The operator also monitors pedestrian access and emergency buttons and has the ability to lock down all exit points. A PA system allows the operator to communicate with anybody inside the building. After several years of evidence that the system worked, a guarantee was introduced stating that the costs of repairing any damage caused by "theft of or theft from the vehicle while secured in the car park" would be covered by Parksafe Systems. To avoid fraudulent claims, the entrance includes several CCTV cameras that record the state of the cars before they are left in the car park. Following one customer complaint about a small scratch, foam barriers were placed between the parking bays to prevent doors opening into neighbouring vehicles.


References

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