A motorist fighting against a hefty parking fine says the ticket flipped upside down as she left her car.
Courtney Marvin-Howard was handed a £55 fine after a trip to a beauty spot - despite having paid the £4 charge to park.
However the parking warden could not see that she had paid for the ticket at Bradgate Park, Leicesteshire, and issue the penalty notice.
The parking enforcement company used by the Bradgate Park Trust says she failed to display her ticket as required by the rules and rejected her appeal - despite her being able to produce the ticket in question.
The 22 year-old is now being pursued by a debt collection agency who say she must now pay £165 because she didn't settle the original fine within 28 days - and the parking company is standing firm on the decision.
Courtney, who has just finished studying primary education at university, told LeicestershireLive : “I’ve got the ticket here in my hand as I’m talking to you. I paid it and they know it because there’s a code that matches up.
“The wind must have flipped it over on my dashboard when I shut the car door. I didn’t notice because I was keeping an eye on two small children and a dog. If I’d seen it obviously I’d have put it the right way up.
“I appealed and they rejected it and now I’ve been told I have to pay £165. I don’t know what to do. I’m a student and I don’t have any money.
“I just went for a walk to get some fresh air and get out of the house in lockdown and now I’ve got a massive bill despite having paid for the parking. It just doesn’t seem right."
She says that she has sent the company the proof of payment and a picture of the ticket upside down on her dashboard. However she says the company has rejected her appeal.
She added: “I thought they’d be reasonable about it and accept that I’d paid - but they didn’t.
“I’m really mad about it. It’s not like I tried to avoid paying for parking.”
Spring Parking, the company that is responsible for Bradgate Park’s parking enforcement, said: "There is signage in place warning that failure to display a valid payment at any time will result in the vehicle being issued with a parking charge notice, (PCN).
"An incorrect number or upside down ticket (so it cannot be read) would result in a parking charge notice.
"Bradgate Park has introduced parking receipts with adhesive to reduce the chance of tickets being displayed incorrectly.
"The onus is on the vehicle owner to ensure the correct display of a ticket to enable the operative to confirm on inspection that a valid ticket is being used.
"This is the same for any pay or display parking area in the county.
"Spring Parking offers an appeals process, and as you correctly mentioned above, the driver appealed the PCN, we rejected the appeal as the parking receipt was face down.
"When Spring Parking rejected the appeal, the discounted amount of £55 was offered.
"As the PCN still remains unpaid, it has now gone to debt recovery."
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