A 77-year-old man who is due to become a great-grandad says he couldn't sleep after being slapped with fines of up to £1,560 for parking outside his own home.
Peter Lee's Mercedes was covered in 12 tickets by Kensington and Chelsea Council after a blunder meant his permit wasn't registered correctly.
The retired fashion designer was even warned by a traffic warden that his vehicle could be towed if he didn't pay the incorrect fines.
The matter took weeks to resolve - and it lead to some sleepless nights for the pensioner, MyLondon reports.
The Notting Hill resident tried to pay his £250 parking permit for the new year but because of a delay in updating the council's system, parking officers didn't know Peter had paid what he should have done.
Thankfully, the council has now resolved the issue and he will not be charged.
He said: "I have had two weeks of sleepless nights while the issue was solved. I was worried that my car was going to be towed away.
"I'm about to be a great-granddad for the second time and I would like to be able to speed down to Rochester and support my granddaughter.
"I could have been unable to do that. There should not have been an issue in the first place."
A Kensington and Chelsea Council spokesperson said: “We’re sorry for any distress this caused to the resident. The permit is valid and all the tickets have been cancelled.
“Payment wasn’t made for a renewed residents’ parking permit renewal before the previous one expired. There was a delay in processing the permit after payment which meant penalty charge notices were issued whilst the permit was not showing as valid.”
He is not the only Londoner to get a nasty surprise.
A builder from Chiswick, west London, received 51 driving fines in a day after he repeatedly drove down a residents only road.
Leaving him with a £6,000 bill, John Barrett says he accrued the charges over a five-month period - but they were all delivered to his door earlier this month on March 10.
The 54-year-old received a message from shocked wife Lisa after more than 50 letters arrived - containing fines of £130 each.
Irritated John says he has had to fire off emails corresponding to each letter to Hounslow Council, who he claims would not accept a blanket response.
He said: "It's ridiculous, no warning or anything. No letter to say you've been caught on camera driving on this road and we don't think you should be. It’s incredible. Imagine if I was someone really vulnerable. Not to mention that my permit allows me to use that road.
"All they had to do was put my registration into their computer and they’d see I had a permit. This has taken so much of my time."
A Hounslow Council spokesperson said: "Unfortunately the lease company for Mr Barrett’s vehicle had provided incorrect address details meaning the exemption was not applied and penalty charges became valid. All charges have been cancelled."
