Man left furious after being charged '£100 for a minute stay' in car park

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A couple say they feel 'mugged' after receiving an £100 fine for breaking the strict 'five-minute' car park rule. Steve Cottrell, 63 and his partner Joy, 56, were on holiday in Dorset in July this year when they drove into the Old Town (West) Car Park in Weymouth on July 15 in the hope to find an affordable space to leave their car for the week.

But when Steve, an NHS nurse from North Wales, walked over to the ticket machine, he claimed that the contactless payment machine wasn't working and that the prices were too expensive.

So instead, after spending six minutes and 12 seconds in the car park, he decided to drive back out and look for another spot elsewhere.

It was only when the couple returned from their week away when they realised they had received a £100 fine from Parkingeye Limited, the company managing the car park, who said the charge was issued because Steve had overstayed the 'five-minute grace period' by one minute and 12 seconds. READ MORE: 'Game changing' trick will clear condensation from your car windscreen overnight The father-of-two wrote to a number of MPs and copied in the Prime Minister after his one-time appeal was rejected, and even wrote a letter to the car park’s landowners.