A hospital porter has been hit with a £100 fine for using a laundrette in a pub car park that he said "didn't even dry his clothes properly".
Patrick Foley, 66, parked his car outside the Welcome Inn in Whitefield, Greater Manchester, to pay £6 to wash his clothes in a self-service machine.
But just days later he was issued a £100 fine in the post because he had used the Bury Old Road car park without being a customer of the pub.
Patrick, who lives opposite the pub, said he drove because it was raining.
He appealed the fine and insisted that he had been a pub patron because Revolution Laundry was located on their site.
But the hospital worker was appalled when his appeal was initially rejected.
Patrick told the Manchester Evening News: “I can see the pub from my house and I couldn’t miss the fact that they’d recently installed a massive, drive-in laundrette next to the pub.
"I normally take my washing to dry at the local launderette but, of course, now that there was a new facility (which opened in November) directly opposite the road from me, I thought I would pop over there and give it a try.”
Patrick said he initially paid £3 for a 15-minute drying cycle, before needing to pay for another dry cycle as his clothes hadn’t properly dried out.
Because it was raining that day, he said he decided to wait in his car for the machine to finish - he said he was in the car park for about 40 minutes.
“It was drizzling at the time and I didn’t want to stand around waiting for the clothes to dry so I waited in the car,” Patrick said.
“Ultimately, the clothes were still damp after two cycles so I just took them to my local laundrette in the end anyway. I made a mental note to myself not to bother using the laundrette again because it was rubbish.”
Patrick received the penalty notice in the post just before Christmas and, despite struggling with technology, he filed an appeal online explaining the circumstances as to why he had used the pub’s car park.
He thought that would be the end of the matter but was shocked to see he'd got another letter through.
“On Tuesday (January 10), I got another letter through the door to say they had considered my appeal and decided to uphold the parking charge notice,” he said.
“They said I am not a patron of the pub but I believe I am a patron of their facilities. The dryer is on their site, the pub knows it’s there.
“How are you supposed to use the launderette without a car? It’s likely that many people are going to sit and wait in the car.”
Teetotal Patrick, who has never visited the pub despite living next door for 32 years, said he has tried to explain his situation to owner Joseph Holt, who has apparently asked for more evidence.
“I cannot believe they still upheld the original charge,” he said.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous that it’s not occurred to them that the person using the laundrette is the patron of the pub. It’s on their ground.
“Why should I have to go to all the hassle of uploading, downloading and compiling evidence for a poxy £6 worth of washing that didn’t even get dried properly? I could have dried it at my local for £2 and it definitely taught me a lesson not to use it again anyway.”
Smart Parking, which issued the fine, has since cancelled it as a gesture of goodwill.
However, Patrick issued a warning to other drivers over the threat of parking fines.
“I won't be using it again, it’s a c**p service,” he said.
“But I'm sure they should put a notice up saying you might be charged for using the washing machine.
“I think more people should be aware that just because you use the laundrette then you might still get fined. I have seen other people park up to use the washer and I’ve had to go over and warn them that they will get fined £100 if they sit and wait.”
Smart Parking said that cars must be registered in order to park legally at the site.
A spokesperson told the M.E.N: "Over the years the car park at the Welcome Inn Pub has suffered from parking abuse, meaning genuine customers were struggling to find places to park.
"To prevent this, Smart Parking were brought into manage the car park using our state-of-the-art ANPR parking management system which monitors car entering and exiting.
"Patrons who use the facilities at the pub can park for free by simply registering on a tablet in the pub. These terms and conditions are clearly highlighted across a number signs both in the pub and car park, and numerous customers use the car park everyday without any issue.
"In the case of this particular motorist they parked without registering so correctly received a charge. However, as an act of goodwill this has now been cancelled."
A spokesperson for Joseph Holt said: “We are working with the parking company to resolve this problem and are contacting them to cancel this person's fine.”
