Meter change cost driver £90 fine

A pensioner was landed with a £90 fine as he nipped to the newsagents to get some change to pay for his car park ticket. Royston Kemp says he was stunned when he returned to his car and found the dreaded envelope on his windscreen.

He had popped to the shop – 20 yards away – to change a £5 note after realising he had no coins for the pay and display machine and claims he had only been gone for several minutes. The 74-year-old retired conservatory salesman parked at the back of the Arizona Crossing in High Street, Kingswinford.

He said: “When I got out of the car, I realised I had only got £5 notes in my pocket, so I went to the paper shop, which is directly opposite, to buy some chewing gum to get some change. But when I got back, I had this £90 ticket from Elite Parking Control.

“I am quite sure I couldn’t have been gone even five minutes. I had every intention of paying – I just didn’t have enough change.”

Mr Kemp, who lives in Mill Pool Close, Hagley, said: “As a pensioner, I am not very happy about a £90 fine – it seems to me to be very excessive. I have spoken to a friend who is a solicitor but there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do.

“It looks like I am going to have to pay. It doesn’t seem right but I will have to grin and bear it.”

Housewife Jane Drury also received a £90 fine from Elite Parking Control after she parked on the Concord Market car park in Brierley Hill.

She paid the £1 parking charge for two hours and displayed the ticket on her dashboard but when she returned 20 minutes later, she saw the fine demand stuck to her windscreen.

Mrs Drury, 33, who lives in Yorke Avenue, Brierley Hill, said: “I was just gobsmacked. I couldn’t believe it.”

She has appealed against the fine by sending copies of her pay and display ticket but is still waiting to hear back from the firm.

Cheryl Heart, customer adviser for Elite Parking Control, said: “Mr Kemp was given the appropriate amount of time of 10 minutes to comply but failed to pay and display a ticket and was served with a fine.

“We have asked Mrs Drury to send copies of her pay and display ticket and notice for us to look at.”