Fined after trying and failing to pay to park

Andy Amis contacted the Leader to say that he and his family parked in the car park on Eastgate, run by Euro Car parks, on January 22 and tried for 12 minutes to pay but eventually gave up and parked elsewhere – only to be hit with a £60 fee.

Andy explained: “We spent five minutes trying to park our van in an already busy car park, only to try to pay at the ticket machine but to be advised that van payments needs to be paid online.

“Returning to the van, we tried to call and do this on the telephone app, but was unsuccessful, spending a further five minutes going back and forth on their automated system.”

The family have now been fined £60 for their attempts to park, despite updating them with the circumstances of their attempts to pay for parking, and further attempts by Andy to appeal the fine have been rejected.

Then, on February 24, Ann Marie Whitaker, from Hallington, also contacted the Leader to report a similar issue.

She said that when she parked in the Eastgate car park, she only had £1 in change which will pay for the first hour of parking, as per the tariff listed on the sign.

She said: “I made five attempts to pay with the pound coin but it was clear to all that the machine wasn’t working and with no other option in sight, I left the car and quickly collected my prescription and was back within half an hour. Imagine my shock when I received a fine for £100!”

Ann Marie then wrote to Euro Car parks, enclosing the pound coin the machine wouldn’t accept, to explain the circumstances but also received a letter back stating that her appeal has been rejected. “Clearly they had not carefully considered my plea,” she said, “This was just a standard rejection.”

Euro Car Parks has, at the time of going to press, not responded to the Leader’s requests for comment.