Shopper, 64, receives £100 parking fine after visit to Iceland store

A shopper was left furious after she received a £100 parking fine for not entering her car registration on the ticket machine before she visited her local Iceland supermarket.

Colleen Godfrey and her two friends visited an Iceland store in east Hull as she wanted to take advantage of the vouchers the store was offering.

The 64-year-old can prove she purchased a ticket from the parking metre and left the car park before her allotted time was up on November 28.

Despite having got back to her vehicle in the allotted time, she was issued with a £100 charge as her registration details had not been entered correctly.

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She claimed she could prove  she purchased the ticket, but that it hadn’t registered her vehicle registration. Pictured above the ticket and the parking charge 

Ms Godfrey said: ‘I was fuming. The ticket shows validation time and date and ticket machine number, it’s just not picked up my registration.

‘I thought I was making savings but I’ve ended up paying double what I was paying in the shop.’

The machine at the parking meter requires customers to manually enter their registration numbers.

Ms Godfrey believed she had done so but later when she checked the ticket only one letter from the code had been printed.

Ms Godfrey had visited the Iceland store on Holderness Road in Hull (pictured above) 

‘I thought it had accepted it and it hadn’t. They shouldn’t issue the tickets if they’ve not picked up the registration.

‘I thought it had gone on. You think put the reg in and pay the money and that’s that.

‘I know people will say I should have looked but you don’t.’

After receiving the notice Ms Godfrey found her original ticket and decided to appeal the charge. She said she panicked and her son came over to her home to help her with the appeal process.

‘Luckily my ticket was still in the car so I could prove I paid.’

But, the Excel Parking who run the car park rejected the appeal citing the incorrect registration as the reason behind their decision.

The letter said: ‘The signs at the car park make it clear that a valid ticket must be purchased for all vehicles which park/enter the car park, giving clear notice that the land is private property and that a Charge of £100 will be levied if vehicles park outside of the Terms and Conditions displayed.

‘Signs also state that when a ticket is purchased, the full and accurate vehicle registration number of the vehicle parked must be entered into the P&D ticket machine.

‘The above detailed vehicle parked without payment of the parking tariff for the vehicle on site and you became liable for the Charge advertised.’

Ms Godfrey said she considered disputing the charge for a second time but was wary of further action so decided to pay the £60 reduced charge while she still could, she received a letter saying her appeal had been unsuccessful.

‘I was fuming. I could have disputed it but I was told I might face more charges and they might take me to court.

‘It was Christmas Eve and I didn’t have enough in the bank so I had to ask my friend if I could use her credit card.

‘It made me anxious, upset and panicky. You think it’s all done and then you get that on top of Christmas.’

Ms Godfrey contacted Iceland to see if they would be able to help with the dispute.

‘I rang Iceland and they said it is nothing to do with them. I’ve made an effort to shop in their store but when there’s a problem they want nothing to do with it,’ she added.

‘I don’t shop there that often it was just because they had the offers on but this has put me right off.’

A spokesman for Iceland said: ‘This car park is managed for Iceland by Excel Parking and their signage makes it clear that customers must enter the registration number of their vehicle when parking their car.

‘Mrs Godfrey failed to do this correctly, entering only a single digit, so Excel is fully entitled to levy a penalty charge.

‘However, we will ask them to cancel the charge in this instance as a gesture of seasonal goodwill.’