Dad gets parking fine for 10-minute stop to help son whose car was broken into on car park

The £100 ticket relates to a ten-minute stop at the Cornhill Car Park, near to Wolverhampton railway station, on September 20, last year.

Mr Leather explained that he and his wife had received a call from their son Sam, whose car had been broken into while it was parked at the car park, which is Euro Car Parks property.

The thieves had smashed one of the vehicle's windows before stealing a dashcam, a sat nav screen, a portable phone charger, and other items.

The inside of the vehicle had been left strewn with broken glass while the thieves had also broken the rear seats, causing considerable damage in the process.

Mr Leather said they had driven over to help their son deal with the damage, and collect the car.

While at the car park for ten minutes they helped clean the car of broken glass before Mr Leather drove the vehicle home.

The couple were then stunned to receive a ticket for their own ten-minute stay.

Mr Leather appealed the fine, explaining the reasons for their presence at the car park – and the brief nature of their stay – but Euro Car Parks has rejected the plea.

The letter explaining the decision makes no reference to the circumstances, only saying they had not bought a ticket and had been captured on an automatic number plate recognition camera.

A final demand letter from Euro Car Parks shows the Leathers' vehicle was captured at 9.32pm, with the ticket issued at 9.42pm.

Mr Leather said he is prepared to go to court over the fine, describing it as 'outrageous'.

He said: "If people cheat car parks - they go in and don't pay - then I don't have any problem with them being fined. That is reasonable.

"But in this case there must have been four cars in the car park, we were there for ten minutes.

"We didn't buy a ticket because my son was quite distressed, especially with the damage that had been done to his car."

In his letter to Euro Car Parks Mr Leather said: "We didn’t think to buy a parking ticket, our focus was on the criminality and the mental state of our son given the circumstances."

Mr Leather also said that while his son was waiting for his parents to arrive he had also been approached by a police officer, who told him he was investigating similar incidents in the same car park.

The theft has been reported to the police.

Euro Car Parks has been approached for comment.