A PENSIONER has slammed a £100 ticket he received despite allegedly never parking up and may now end up in court.
John Jones, 72, returned from holiday to find he had been slapped with the penalty after visiting a car wash in Andover, Hampshire, in January.
John Jones claims he was wrongly fined for a long car park stay, despite only stopping to use a car washSolent
The fine, issued by Total Parking Solutions, stated that he had exceeded the retail park’s three-hour maximum stay limit, claiming that his red Mazda had remained at the site for five hours.
But John insists that the charge was incorrectly issued, alleging that he made two separate trips to the car wash on that day.
The 72-year-old claims that he intended to have his motor cleaned that morning but discovered that the service was closed due to heavy frost as sub-zero weather swept the UK.
He then allegedly left the car park, before returning in the afternoon when the business had reopened.
The issue, according to John, is that Total Parking’s enforcement cameras only snapped images of him entering, but not leaving, the car park on his first visit and leaving, but not entering, on his second.
This apparently gave the impression that he had remained on the site for the five hours between the two trips.
He claimed: “The parking charge notice claimed we had parked the car in the retail park for over five hours.
“At no time on that day in January did we ever park in this car park.
“On checking our movements we realised that we had visited this car wash earlier in the day, only to find it closed, probably because of the heavy frost that morning.
“We then returned later that day, when it re-opened, and used the wash.
“We paid by credit card, which timestamped the entry time to the car wash.
“This is a serious error by Total Parking Solutions.”
John has now appealed the fine and said he is even willing to go to court if that’s what it takes to have it overturned.
Total Parking Solutions has been contacted for comment
It comes after one shopper was clamped in a Lidl car park and fined £1,000 despite allegedly only popping into the supermarket for one minute.
How to appeal a parking ticket
A 2021 Sun investigation found that roughly half of drivers win parking fine appeals, so if you believe you have been wrongly charged, it’s likely worth taking action.
Top reasons to appeal include errors on the ticket/fine notice, signage being obscured, unclear or incorrect or the vehicle not being under your ownership at the time, including for cars reported stolen.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to appeal:
Read the information on the ticket to see how long you have to challenge the fine.
Make an initial claim to the company that issued the ticket, including supporting evidence
Don’t pay straight away – just be aware that the fine may increase while your appeal is being considered
If your initial claim is rejected, you can make a formal appeal to the local council, which has 56 days to respond
If your fine is issued on a private site, like a supermarket or retail parks, you will have to appeal via the Independent Appeals Service instead.