A grandmother recovering from a liver condition has had a £100 parking fine cancelled following a Ham&High investigation.
Patricia Fuller, 69, was filling up her Peugot 107 at the Morrisons supermarket petrol station in Chalk Farm Road, Camden, before beginning a drive to Dorset with her daughter.
But a jammed petrol cap, slow queue at the air compressor and struggle to get at a wheel’s air valve meant the 69-year-old spent more time than planned on the petrol station’s forecourt.
Days after the August 18 stop off Ms Fuller received in the post a “threatening and frightening” fine from ParkingEye, managers of the site, claiming she spent 41 minutes parked on the concourse.
“I’m not young any more and I’ve been ill, so a lot of what I do is done slowly. It is absurd anyone should be fined for being slow where there is apparently no notice of the potential for an overstay penalty.
“The whole thing was ludicrous and grossly unfair,” she added.
Ms Fuller from Belsize Park, said: “I’m very pleased to hear the fine has quite correctly been dropped. It was an enormously upsetting surprise being charged for filling my car.
Ms Fuller notified ParkingEye she would be appealing against the fine seven days after it dropped onto her doormat.
On its ticket ParkingEye say signage at the entrance warns drivers not to park without authorisation, but in her appeal Mrs Fuller claims she was not “parking” and there is no mention of a time limit and the sign’s small print is illegible.
She only discovered there was a 30 minute time limit at the station when a supermarket manager later informed her.
“One hundred pounds is a ludicrous sum to charge someone who is slow for spending 11 minutes they had not been made aware were chargeable,” Ms Fuller said. “I’m extremely grateful to the Ham&High for dealing with this.”
A ParkingEye spokeswoman said: “ParkingEye is a member of the British Parking Association (BPA) and follows its code of practice.
“We encourage people who have received a parking charge to appeal if they think there are mitigating circumstances, and instructions about how to do this are detailed on all of our communications and on our website: parkingeye.co.uk,” she added.
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