An NHS worker is willing to go to court after she was accused of leaving her vehicle overnight at a supermarket carpark.
Paula Parker, a dental nurse from Walney, was left ‘traumatised’ after a three-month dispute with carpark officials.
Ms Parker received a charge notice from Hindpool Car park owners, CP Plus, in January after she allegedly exceeded the maximum car park stay by 12 hours in December.
However, the 47-year-old claims the car park’s camera system has made an error, insisting she visited Aldi in Hindpool Park across two consecutive days.
She said: “I’ve been told before that the cameras used aren’t flawless. They claim that I left my car overnight and walked back to Walney with all my shopping which is ludicrous.
“I do not have a problem with these car parks and being manned by this equipment, but they have made a mistake.”
Despite proof of two separate shopping receipts, Ms Parker’s attempts to appeal the £100 penalty charge have been unsuccessful.
She said: “I’m absolutely willing to take this to court.
"I’m not paying the proposed fine on principle.
“The incident has affected my health, I feel anxious about where to park and worry about it happening again.
“They need a change of system.
"They should surely be able to tell an innocent person appealing.
“If I’d done this I wouldn’t be fighting it, I would just pay it. I’ve followed the correct process.”
A spokesman for the car park appeal service, Poplus, said: “For cases of this nature, motorists often present evidence to demonstrate that they were elsewhere, like a receipt, a job sheet, or a diary entry.
“If the motorist had provided no evidence that the vehicle was elsewhere, it might result in a refused appeal.”
A spokeswoman for Aldi said: “After learning of the circumstances, we have arranged for a gesture of goodwill to be sent to Ms Parker and hope to see her in our Hindpool store again in the future.”
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