A mum-of-four was handed a £100 parking fine for feeding her screaming baby in a pub car park and leaving the site just three minutes late.
Emily Mason, who lives in Cheltenham, said her youngest four-month-old, Oakley, started screaming in hunger while driving, reports Gloucestershire Live.
She pulled into the car park of the Norwood Arms to feed him and was shocked some time later to receive a £100 fine from Britannia parking. This company manages the car park on behalf of the pub and its owner, brewery Greene King.
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Emily said: “Oakley needed feeding and he was really screaming. I pulled into the car park to feed him, but also as a safety measure.
“A screaming baby in a car is incredibly distracting - it can be a real risk to just carry on driving if you’re distracted, so it wasn’t just me trying to calm him down. I was trying to make sure I was driving safely.”
While the parking management company allows people a 10-minute grace people to use the car park for dropping off, picking up or for another reason, it took a hard line with Emily.
She said: “I was there for 13 minutes, just three minutes over. I paid the fine, which was £60 if I paid it within two weeks, but appealed.”
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Since contacting Gloucestershire Live the parking fine has been cancelled, much to Emily's relief, but initially Britannia Parking was unmoved.
A letter sent to Emily said: “We have considered your appeal and comments you have made; in conjunction with any evidence you have provided and the photographs we have on record.
“The Parking Charge Notice was issued to your vehicle because a valid ticket was not purchased. It is the driver's responsibility to ensure that they have read and understood the terms and conditions for using the car park.
It concluded: “We give motorists a 10 minute consideration period on arrival before entering into the ‘parking contract’, this is double the time recommended by the BPA. If the driver has not purchased a ticket within this 10 minute period, a Parking Charge Notice will be issued.
“By leaving your vehicle in the car park without a valid ticket you have broken the terms and conditions and therefore we believe the Parking Charge Notice to be valid and correctly issued.”
Emily said: “I understand why the pub needs to make sure it’s car park isn’t full of people using it to go shopping down Bath Road, but I feel Britannia parking could use a bit more discretion.
“I’d like them to think a bit more why people might have gone over the 10 minutes by a short while.”
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Gloucestershire Live contacted both Britannia parking and Greene King.
The parking company has not responded, but the brewery got in touch to say it had asked for the ticket to be cancelled.
A spokesman said: “We have asked Britannia to cancel the ticket in question.
“We instil a parking charge as some of the community wish to use the car park for access to other businesses and we want to ensure we give our guests priority of parking.
“A small charge is installed, but if you eat or drink in the pub it is refunded from the bill and guests can register their number plate on the tablet.”
Emily was thrilled when she heard the news. She said: “That’s fantastic, that’s amazing. I’m really pleased to hear that. I think that’s a good decision.”
A spokesman for Britannia Parking said: “Given the circumstances, the motorist has been given a full refund, with the parking charge notice cancelled.”
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