Man slapped with £100 parking effective in free house after council punish blunder

A bloke has been slapped with a £100 fine despite parking in a spot that’s free to use.

Andy Hall, from Troon, got stung with a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) by the Ayrshire Roads Alliance (ARA) just 20 minutes after he parked up outside TK Maxx in Ayr.

He’d got a ticket after tapping in his reg number to claim the two-hour free parking slot.

READ MORE: ‘My dad was shown alien bodies and UFO inside top secret US sub-basement’

Click for more of the latest news from across the world from the Daily Star.

But it was only after a conversation with the parking wardens that Andy clocked he’d pressed the number 0 instead of the letter O when punching in his reg.

Even after complaining to ARA, Andy might still have to cough up for the blunder after his first appeal, reports the Daily Record.

Speaking with Ayrshire Live, Andy said: “I turned up, went to the ticket machine and put in my registration. The machine then spat out a ticket for the free term which fell on the ground and was blowing about.

“I picked it up, crossed to TK Maxx and I was in there for approximately 25 minutes. I returned to my car and there was a big, yellow parking fine ticket on my windscreen. I thought: ‘What the hell?.

“I looked at the ticket and thought there was nothing wrong with that. I was going up the Sandgate to meet my son and I came across the traffic wardens.” I approached them and I said: ‘Hi guys, I’ve got this parking ticket but 20 minutes earlier I actually got a ticket’.

“The guy was like, ‘Let me see. I can see what you’ve done there, you’ve put in a 0 instead of an O. I hadn’t noticed that but he still said it was £100 or £50 if paid in 14 days. Surely, when you look at that, that’s been a simple mistake. A wee bit of common sense.”

Andy has since received a Notice of Rejection of Appeal from Ayrshire Roads Alliance which stated: “I can confirm as the vehicle was inspected with no valid parking session the PCN was correctly issued and may not be cancelled.”

“The points raised in the appeal have been carefully considered and grounds for cancellation of the PCN have not been established. It is incumbent upon the registered owner/keeper/hirer of the vehicle to ensure it is parked in compliance with any underlying parking restriction.”

A spokesperson for ARA said they were unable to comment on the issue as the case was still live.

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.