A shopper slapped with a hefty £80 fine for accepting a stranger’s car park ticket is to appeal.
Lynda Double fell foul of the rules at a car park at Beales department store in Peterborough after taking up the offer of another shopper’s ticket which was still valid for a further hour and a half.
But within six minutes of leaving the car park to do her shopping a car park attendant had issued the fine, leaving Lynda fuming and fearful that such a “jobsworth” attitude could end up spoiling another hapless victim’s Christmas.
She said: “I have decided to take a stand against this because everyone I have spoken to has said it is wrong.
“That parking attendant obviously saw us accept this other driver’s ticket but instead of coming over and telling us we would be fined for doing it, he waited until we walked away before issuing a ticket.
“It makes me wonder if the parking attendant is paid a commission for every ticket he issues. It was just a nasty, sneaky thing to do, so I am writing to the company which runs the car park to say I want to appeal against the fine.”
Lynda, of Surfleet, intends to appeal on the basis that she was not the one to break the car park company Napier Parking Ltd’s rule that states tickets are “non transferable”, as she did not transfer a ticket to anyone else.
She had been told that early payment of the fine would see it decrease to £50, but is willing to run the risk of having to pay the higher cost – or even face the prospect of being taken to court - to make a point.
She said: “Initially, I was very angry but was unsure I wanted to make a big fuss about it. But the more I have thought about it and the more people I have spoken to about it, the more I think it is important to take a stand and bring this to other people’s attention so the same thing doesn’t happen to them and ruin their Christmas.”