‘It’s a disgrace I got this parking fine. I’ve been trying to pay for months but no one got back to me!’

A fed-up motorist says it is a “disgrace” that he received a £170 car parking fine after a near-four battle trying to pay it. When Declan Hill was running late for a train to Brighton to see his family on May 21, he tried to pay for his car parking ticket on the NCP app for parking at Grantham railway station. He was parked in NCP car park two but he said the app only displayed the option for NCP car park three, so he chose that.

He later received a letter stating he would be fined £20 for not paying for his £2.95 ticket. After trying to appeal, he received no reply and, after continuous efforts, he still received no contact from NCP.



This led to the fine being passed onto a debt recovery service, leaving Declan with a £170 fine. After contact from this newspaper, the fine was waived but the whole episode has left a bitter taste for Declan. “This is outrageous and this is a disgrace,” said Declan.

He added: “It’s not like I was trying to steal the space and then disappear. I was just parked in the wrong place for paying. “The link they sent me to pay for the fine took me to a website for Greater Anglia.

I thought ‘why is this taking me to this?’. “I wanted to speak to a human being because I was only dealing with computers. “I am a good citizen.

I have tried to pay this fine, even though I don’t think I should have to, and I have tried to do the right thing. “I am frustrated. Half of me wants it to go to court so a judge can say ‘why are you wasting my time?’.

” An NCP spokesperson said: “A PCN (parking charge notice) was issued as the customer paid for a different car park to the one he was parked in. “Looking into this case we can see that the appeal was declined because payment for Grantham Station car park one and two is not an option on the app. “The response sent to the customer explained that the PCN was reduced to pay an admin fee of £20.

“On this occasion, as a gesture of goodwill, we have now cancelled the PCN with immediate effect.” What do you think? Let us know your views in the comments below..

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