Elderly driver, 87, ‘confused and bewildered’ by £100 fine
A Dorset pensioner who paid £1 to park his car was left flummoxed after receiving a fine for £100.
Peter Willis, 87, had popped into Weymouth town centre and left his vehicle in a popular car park.
He entered his Nissan’s vehicle registration number into the ticket machine and paid for 60 minutes of parking.
After completing his various errands over the next hour, he then returned home.
But a week later, a fine for £100 appeared for Peter’s brief stop in the St Nicholas Street Car Park.
His family are now fighting against the Parking Charge Notice (PCN) on his behalf and have refused to cough up.
Peter’s daughter-in-law Shelley Wills told Dorset Live: ‘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.
Luckily, Weymouth resident Peter kept his original parking ticket to prove he did in fact pay for his parking.
Angered by the PCN, Peter’s family believe that a printing error may have caused Peter to receive the fine.
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 by Metro.co.uk for comment.
Shelley added to DevonLive: ‘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.’
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