Baffled driver hit with ?100 fine despite paying a quid to park
A driver has been left bewildered and angry after being hit with a £100 parking charge notice (PCN), despite paying to park his car in a town centre. Peter Wills, aged 87, went on a routine shopping trip that could prove much more expensive than he had ever imagined.
He parked at St Nicholas Street Car Park, Weymouth, on Tuesday, July 11, keyed in his Nissan’s vehicle registration number into the ticket payment machine and paid £1 for an hour’s parking. Just a week later, Euro Car Parks issued him with a £100 PCN.
The retired repairman left the Euro Car Parks managed site, but was left “confused and bewildered” when he received a £100 Parking Charge Notice a week later. Now his family are fighting back and he is refusing to pay up.
Peter's daughter-in-law Shelley Wills told Dorset Live[2]: “He always goes there to park and always pays and displays his ticket. He went into the car park as usual, got his ticket, displayed it in his car and then went shopping.
“He came back and got in his car, carried on as usual. He did see only the last three letters of his vehicle registration were on the ticket but he thought nothing more about it as he thought he had done nothing wrong.
“On July 19, a letter came through the post with this parking charge notice for £100. He was a bit bewildered about it as he had paid for parking and left before his hour was up.”
The letter from Euro Car Parks to Peter explained “no valid pay and display/permit was purchased” and enclosed photographs of Peter entering and leaving St Nicholas Street Car Park. Weymouth resident Peter kept his original parking ticket to prove he did in fact pay for his parking.
Angered by the Parking Charge Notice, Peter’s family believe that a printing error may have caused Peter to receive the Parking Charge Notice. Only the last three letters of his vehicle registration appeared on the display ticket, when the full registration is usually printed on the ticket.
His family have denied any human error has played a part in Peter receiving the PCN and noted that other motorists have had similar experiences. “This ticket only printed off the three letters at the end of his registration”, Shelley observed. “Following the letter, I have spoken to people and researched this on Facebook[3] groups and a lot of people say there’s a problem with that car park.
“One parent noted a similar issue with her parking ticket and later ended up with a parking fine. I don’t want it to go away or just pay the fine as I have been looking on Facebook and trying to get an answer. He tried ringing Euro Car Parks and he got no answer.”
The family also claim that workers were seen on another day looking at the ticket machine, which they believe suggests that Euro Car Parks were aware of a fault. Euro Car Parks has been contacted for a statement.
Shelley added: “He won't pay that in a million years. He is not in the wrong. They are trying to rob people blind. They know who he is, they got his details from the DVLA and claim there was no valid pay and display ticket purchased. But he did pay for his parking.”
References
- ^ West Country event descends into chaos as visitors' vehicles trapped in 'mud bath' (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
- ^ told Dorset Live (www.dorset.live)
- ^ Facebook (www.bristolpost.co.uk)