Driver paid for ticket but still got fined

A RETIRED couple are warning motorists to be on their guard after receiving a parking ticket demanding payment – despite having proof they had paid to park.

John and Joan Plastow received a parking enforcement notice from Civil Enforcement Ltd after leaving their car in a private car park off Market Street, in Cleethorpes.

The letter claimed the couple had "exceeded the maximum parking allowance" between 11.37am and 12.30pm on May 15.

By a stroke of luck, Mr Plastow, 72, of Columbia Road, Grimsby, had kept the two-hour parking ticket he had bought at 11.40am – three minutes after arriving at the car park – proving their innocence.

He said: "I felt angry when the letter arrived and I found out I still had the ticket because I knew I hadn't done anything wrong.

"I tried to call the company, but it only has an automated payment line for giving them money. I have written to them and contacted Trading Standards.

"A lot of people would probably end up paying, even if they hadn't done anything wrong."

The parking enforcement notice demands payment of £150 within 28 days or £75 within 14 days.

It states that failure to do so may result in the company contacting debt recovery agencies.

Mrs Plastow, 71, of Columbia Road, said: "I was upset when the letter arrived because I've never had a parking ticket in my life.

"If I was on my own I would have just panicked and paid it.

"We want to warn other people so that they don't automatically pay if they receive a similar letter, because it might be a scam."

Neil Clark, community protection manager at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: "Tickets issued by private firms are Parking Charge Notices and operate under contractual law only. Such charges should be reasonable and in line with the loss suffered to the contracting company. These are not criminal notices and have no enforcement as such. The company has no right to recover a parking charge in any other way than through a civil claim in county court."

Civil Enforcement Ltd was unavailable to comment.

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