A fuming mum was slapped with a £100 fine – after she overstayed in a car park by just 12 MINUTES.
Lisa Whittaker, 37, was late back to collect her car after taking her four-year-old daughter Safiya to a new trampoline centre.
Despite overstaying by just 12 minutes, she was slapped with a £100 penalty – the equivalent of £8.30-a-minute.
The over-zealous traffic warden struck after Miss Whittaker left her Peugeot 206 SW in Pride Park car, in Derby, on at 12.30pm on July 13.
The car park gives users two hours of free parking and charges £1.20-an-hour after that.
Three days later the single-mum, from Derby, received a letter from Parking Eye, which runs the car park, demanding she pay £100 because she returned to her car at 12.42pm.
The charity support worker fumed: “For a one-hour trampoline session we were advised to arrive half an hour earlier. So at 12.30pm we entered the car park for a session at 1pm.
“After a fabulous and energetic one-hour session we left just after 2pm and decided to grab lunch at Subway next door.
“We then left the car park at 2.42pm to return home after a great day out. I then received a £100 parking charge from Parking Eye, as they only authorise a maximum two-hour stay and I overstayed this by just 12 minutes.
“Yes granted I did not notice any time limit, and therefore I am duly responsible for going a mere 12 minutes over, but what an absolute disgrace to allow this stringent limitation.
“I am disgusted that this parking charge would be enforced on a day out with my daughter using the facilities on offer – I’d like to warn other customers so they don’t get caught out.
“To me, this is blatant exploitation and £100 is over the top. How they can say a 12 minute overstay is worth £100 is beyond me.”
Last week Miss Whittaker rejected an offer to pay half the fine, and formally lodged an appeal against the penalty.
She added: “I’ll fight this all the way. These companies try and bully people into paying these fines and it’s not right.”
A spokesman for Parking Eye said: “We encourage people who have received a parking charge to appeal if they think there are mitigating circumstances, and instructions about how to do this are detailed on all communications and on our website.
“Parking Eye is a member of the British Parking Association (BPA) and follows its code of practice with respect to signage.”
