I was fined more than £100 for a ONE POUND parking space… it’s a joke and I can’t speak to a human to complain
A DRIVER who received an £100 fine over a £1 car park says it’s a joke but can't complain because he can't get hold of a human.
Keith Morby, 68, paid £2 after parking his car in Lichfield, Staffordshire, to go shopping with his wife on September 25.
A sign at the site on Backcester Lane clearly states the £1 payment for parking between 7am and 7pm on Sundays.
He says he left double the advertised charge to use the car park before being ordered to pay the three-figure fee.
But he still received a letter demanding £100 from operator Euro Car Parks, which later refused his appeal on the grounds he had overstayed.
Keith received the rejection letter about a month after the alleged offence.
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It said his pay-and-display ticket only entitled him to four hours parking according to the "clearly-displayed tariff".
But the stunned pensioner said he was amazed as he had been forced to pay £2 because the machine was not working properly.
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The former vehicle damage assessor, from the village of Whittington, near Lichfield, branded the situation a "perfect example of the world gone mad".
He said: "I feel really upset. You can't speak to the manager, you can only fill in an online form.
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"You can't reply to the first email, you can't reply to the rejection email and you can't speak to a human being."
A sign in the car park clearly states the charge on Sundays is £1 between 7am and 7pm, appearing to contradict the letter Keith received.
In total, he parked for four hours and 32 minutes, between 1.38pm and 6.10pm.
He said he planned to take the case to the parking ombudsman and had "forfeited" his right to pay a reduced fee.
He added: "It's plain daft, just ridiculous. On previous Sundays, it has been exactly the same.
"To my knowledge, it still going on now. The machine asks you to select what you want to pay for.
"Obviously on Sunday, 7am to 7pm is £1, so you select pay, but there is no provision to select £1. You can only pay the minimum of £2.
"The machine thinks you are paying for four hours. I thought the first time it happened - because it has happened before - the machine was out of sync, it thinks it's Monday or Wednesday.
"But obviously not because it happened this time and I went over the four hours and I have been done. But it clearly says, as you can see on the notice board next to the meter, it is £1 all day on Sunday.
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"There are two other car parks owned by Euro Car Parks, which are exactly the same. Same notice, same machine, same result. I can't be the only one."
Euro Car Parks has been approached for comment.