Pub's parking row fines dropped

People had been using the car park to go to Tesco and a parade of shops

More than 800 people have had parking fines scrapped in a Dorset town after confusion caused by an automatic number plate recognition machine.

The motorists breached private parking rules at The White Heather Pub in Ferndown, but some said they were only turning around due to a road closure.

Some said they never received a penalty notice, but a late payment fee of £95.

Nupark, now trading as Ideal Parking Solutions, said it had cancelled 861 fines as a goodwill gesture.

'Great distress'

But director Damion Nickerson said some drivers who had been caught had gone shopping at a nearby Tesco store and parade of shops, or had been in the car park to meet friends - without using the pub or giving their registration number at the bar.

Ideal Parking Solutions said it cancelled fines as a goodwill gesture

The pub, which has erected warning signs about the system, began using Ideal Parking Solutions in July and plans to continue using the service.

Sylvia Hinves, 75, of Wimborne, said she received a demand for an unpaid £75 fine - even though she had never parked there and had never received a penalty notice.

She said she could only have used the area to turn her vehicle around.

This then went up to £95 and Mrs Hinves said she was told non-payment by 6 October would mean it would rise to £115.

Mrs Hinves, a widow, said the row meant she had not slept properly and had caused her "great distress".

Pub's 'best wishes'

Ideal Parking Solutions contacted her on Wednesday to say it would pay the fine as a gesture of goodwill, but that it was not a refund.

"The thing is, she had been on that site", Mr Nickerson said. "And the post goes out recorded, so sometimes people forget they've had a letter.

Signs are displayed around the car park warning about fines

"We are running a business, and I'm not hiding that fact. But we follow guidelines set out by the government.

"We're being called in by businesses who are having massive problems with people parking on their private land to the detriment of their business.

"We have cancelled 861 tickets of people who had used the car park and not registered with the White Heather Pub, with the pub's best wishes."

Mr Nickerson said the time delay on the automatic number plate recognition machine had also been extended.