A PENSIONER said she would rather be “thrown in jail” than pay a parking ticket which she was ‘falsely’ given in Bournemouth.
The woman, who has asked not to be named, received a parking ticket at the Sovereign Shopping Centre in Boscombe after she paid for a 24-hour ticket and only stayed for three.
Sovereign Shopping Centre car park (Image: Daily Echo)
The 80-year-old said: “I come to Boscombe every week to meet up with my sisters and because we cannot hurry, we buy a 24-hour ticket which is £5.
“I already received a parking fine in August, but I paid that because I couldn’t find my ticket.
“I’m not paying it again though; they can throw me in jail.”
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Since contacting the Echo, it came to light she had not entered the correct vehicle number plate details into the ticket machine and the company controlling the car park has revoked her fine.
She has now warned people to always enter their correct details at the shopping centre’s car park to avoid a £45 fine.
The Daily Echo contacted Horizon Parking, the company which owns the Boscombe car park, and they confirmed the two parking charges were issued “due to the motorist not entering their correct vehicle registration when making payment for parking.”
A spokeswoman added that according to the British Parking Association Code of Practice, typos in vehicle registrations warrant a reduced amount for a period of 14 days of no more than £20 to cover costs incurred in issuing the Parking Charge.
Sovereign Shopping Centre in Boscombe (Image: Daily Echo)
“On both these occasions, despite this, we have cancelled the parking charges in full as a gesture of goodwill and refunded any payments made by the motorist,” she added.
“We have written to the motorist to confirm this and to advise her that she does need to enter her full correct vehicle registration when paying at the machines to ensure that the cameras can match her payment to the captures of her vehicle in the car park.
“We advise any customer at the location that has made payment under an incorrect vehicle registration to appeal via our website or postal address so that we can investigate and respond accordingly.
“We are saddened to hear of this particular motorists health problems at present and wish her all the best in her recovery.”
