A man has said he and his wife will no longer park at a shopping centre after £600 worth of fines.
The man, who did not want to be named, said he has had enough and is "completely put off" going to the Cherry Tree Shopping Centre in Liscard, Wirral, after a new parking system was introduced.
In August 2021, Smart Parking took over the operation of the car park and there have been complaints about the new system, with people saying it is too confusing, especially for Blue Badge holders.
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Blue Badge holders can park for free at the Cherry Tree but many have received £100 fines through their letterboxes.
The man told the ECHO he has received six fines, each at £100, despite having a valid Blue Badge, he said: "We have always shopped there as it is too far for us to walk as we both have anxiety and my wife suffered with back pain and I have just had heart surgery.
"But we have been completely put off going there now, and we won't park in the car park anymore because of the risk of being fined.
"After receiving our first fine, we registered our car with one of the attendants, but we still received fines in the post.
"We have had one cancelled and we are waiting to hear back on the other five appeals, but it is incredibly worrying and stressful."
A number of similar issues have come about because regular visitors to the site said they did not realise drivers now have to register a Blue Badge via their car registration on one of the payment machines - something which previously wasn't required.
The confusion led to a number of disabled people and pensioners receiving fines through the post.
A Facebook group was set up, there were threats to boycott the shopping centre and local councillors wrote to the parking company.
Many saw their fines dropped, but some still use the Facebook group for support in appealing fines from Smart Parking.
And in late December the parking meters were sabotaged with expanding foam - a matter Smart Parking is passing on to Merseyside Police.
The Cherry Tree Shopping Centre was approached for comment.
Previously, a spokesperson for the Cherry Tree shared a statement with the ECHO on behalf of Smart Parking.
It read: "Smart Parking recently signed a lease to operate Cherry Tree car park and as such, it is our aim to manage the facility in a way that stops parking abuse and insures that genuine motorists and users of the centre can always find a place to park.
"At the car park we use a state of the art ANPR parking management system, linked to ultra-modern payment machines. This equipment allows us to accurately monitor cars both entering and exiting as well as the corresponding details entered into the payment machines.
"As Cherry Tree car park is private land, before anyone decides to park there, they should check the terms and conditions of use which are clearly advertised throughout the site.
"In respect to Blue Badges, these are not valid on private land, and motorists are told this when they are issued with them. However, at the Cherry Tree Car Park and as a gesture of goodwill, Smart Parking do recognise them and allow them to be used by holders to secure free parking. To manage this we employ a fulltime attendant to monitor and record all Blue Badges utilised on the site.
"Smart Parking are proud members of the British Parking Association (BPA) and strictly follow its guidelines. In addition we operate a BPA audited appeals process and we would recommend to any motorist who feels that they have been incorrectly issued with a charge to contact us directly."
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