The issue surrounded where he actually parked his car. He parked in the space below:

                 

     

  

 

As you can see, the picture on the left demonstrates that on the day in question, the car was parked between the lines and not causing an obstruction.  There were no other markings to suggest that parking on this piece of land would incur a penalty.

A ticket was placed on the windscreen of this vehicle requesting the sum of £60.00 but the company who issued the ticket, Town & City Parking, incorrectly completed the ticket and claimed that they issued the ticket at 11.10am and that they first saw the vehicle at 11.30 somehow magically issuing the ticket 20 minutes before they saw the vehicle.

The main issue we had with the parking ticket was that Town & City Parking were requesting £60. How could they come to that figure? A parking ticket was purchased so no money was lost there.  The customer was shopping in Asda so there were no losses there.  No parking spaces were blocked nor were any footpaths obstructed so there could be no claim of any losses there.  It appeared that this was a fine rather than loss of income due to breach of contract but a fine is not allowed in law as upheld by the Court of Appeal in the case of Dunlop Pneumatic Tyres v New Garage & Tyres 1914.

We advised that the following letter should be sent to Town & City Parking:

Your parking ticket claims that I was parked in contravention to the terms and conditions stipulated at 11.10am on 8^th December 2010. By your own admission on the same form, my car was first seen by your staff at 11.30am on 8^th December 2010 which is 20 minutes after the invoice was issued. 

 

I have taken photographic evidence of the area in which I parked. This evidence clearly shows that I was parked within 3 white lines, which although the lines were not parallel, was perfectly large enough for my vehicle to fit in without overhanging the lines.  There were no markings to suggest that you are not to park here. 

 

I would also like to point out that I did pay for parking.  You are claiming a fee of £60 for breach of contract.  In the case of Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co v New Garage and Motor Co (1915) Lord Dunedin set out the difference between liquidated damages and penalties. The essence of a penalty is a payment of money stipulated as in terrorem  of the offending party. It is my view that even if I have breached a contract with you the sum requested is a penalty and therefore will not be allowed in court.

I would also be prepared to argue in court that the alleged contract entered into breached Section 5 of The Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.

Please note that I am not appealing your parking fine.  I am stating that you have no valid claim for damages. I will only consider entering into further correspondence with you after you have obtained a County Court Judgement.

Obviously this doesn't stop the letters from private parking companies as they want you to believe that they will take you to court in the hope that you pay up.  A further letter was received from Town & City Parking at which point the customer contacted the press.

A photographer and reporter from The Herald Express turned up at Asda in Newton Abbot to look into the story (full story).  Asda have agreed to look into cancelling the ticket but have stated that anyone else who has fallen victim to this will be dealt with on a case for case basis so you may need to be prepared to put up a fight.