A furious dad says his "heart sank" after he was slapped with a £100 parking fine for a 21 minute stay.
Uber driver Michael Guy parked his car in a B&Q car park early in the morning to avoid disturbing residents with his engine, only for his courteousness to backfire.
The new dad who has a seven-month-old baby suspects the fine was for 'overnight parking' as he was in the privately-owned car park at a shopping park in Liverpool between 6.37am to 6.58am.
The 31-year-old will now have to pay the full £100 as he didn't receive the letter until after the 14-day discount threshold.
Michael's letter was dated from March 8 - 16 days after he was parked at the Edge Lane retail park on Monday, February 20 - but didn't arrive at the car's registered address until March 27, before it was then passed onto him two days later.
"It doesn't give a postcode, it doesn't give an address, it just gives the name of the car park," frustrated Michael told the Liverpool ECHO.
"So when you Google it, it comes up as the new Edge Lane Shopping Park.
"My guess is, as I tend to go to the B&Q in the corner, so that must be classed as Edge Lane Shopping Park car park too.
"I have basically parked in a B&Q before 7am and have tried to class it as overnight parking.
"They have been so slow to process, it is £100 now, when I have never even had the opportunity to pay the £60 and even if a person wants to fight there is no one to talk to."
Michael said the fine has come at a difficult time with his new baby, bills and the cost of living.
He added: "Your heart just sinks and I don't have £100.
"I have a seven-month-old baby and for £100 fine to just drop like that on the top of your head is just not nice.
"It is another five hours work and you can't work every hour of the day."
A spokesperson for Smart Parking said Michael received the fine as there is no overnight parking between 8pm and 7am, Monday to Sunday.
The company also said it has reinstated the discount period to April 14 to allow an appeal at the discounted rate.
Michael also said he believes the signs are not clear enough to read, especially at night.
He said: "The signs are dotted around the car park, which you can't see at night time, and in this case it was the early hours of the morning.
"If you spoke to a graphic design specialist or someone who works in advertisement, you have the most eye-catching colours to alert people [...] signs which are white and red, black and yellow [mean] hazardous and we have certain symbols and certain colours.
"These do the opposite of many advertisement rules but they still pass the bylaws and get hundreds of people in the same situation as me and they get £60 to £100 in money."
A spokesperson for Smart Parking, which runs the B&Q car park, said the signage is governed and it is subject to scrutiny, via audit, at regular intervals.
In a statement the parking company said: “The car park at Liverpool Shopping Park (Car Park 2), has clear signage throughout advising motorists on how to use the car park.
"This signage is approved by the British Parking Association and includes highly-prominent guidance on how there is no overnight parking between 8pm and 7am, Monday to Sunday.
"The motorist correctly received a parking charge notice for parking between these hours on February 20.
"Smart Parking operates an audited appeals process which we would encourage motorists to use if they have mitigating circumstances for breaking the rules of the car park.
"In this case we have not received an appeal from the motorist however we have reinstated the discount period to April 14 to allow an appeal at the discounted rate."
Have you received an unfair parking fine? Get in touch with your story at susie.beever@reachplc.com
