Oswestry patients warned to enter correct car registration in parking row

Several people who have parked in the pay and display car park at Plas Ffynnon Surgery in Oswestry recently have been sent fines of £100 because the automated system has claimed they have not paid.

But the mayor of Oswestry, Councillor Peter Cherrington, who was one of the drivers to receive a fine, said the system doesn't seem to be recognising patients of the Middleton Road surgery who are not required to buy a ticket.

Councillor Cherrington said he was annoyed and concerned when he received his fine, despite believing he had entered his car registration number correctly into the computer.

"I went in to see the doctor to get an appointment for an X-ray. I put my number in the machine, saw the doctor and then left to go to the Shirehall," he said. "I was in there for 11 minutes – it says so on the fine they sent out. As someone who's prepared to speak out I questioned the reason behind the fine and was informed that they would deal with it and I didn't have to pay.

"When I told the lady in the surgery she said they've received a number of these type of complaints. My concern is those who are vulnerable and may feel that they have to pay. They're the people who can least afford it."

But Will Pollard, spokesman for ParkingEye, said he believed some patients are not entering their numbers correctly into the machine.

He said: "During opening hours, Plas Ffynnon Medical Centre operates automatic number plate recognition technology and users are required to enter their vehicle registration number into a touch screen terminal when using the car park. In this instance the correct vehicle registration number was not entered into the terminal.

"ParkingEye operates an industry-leading audited appeals process and encourages individuals to appeal if they feel there are extenuating circumstances."

Similar parking schemes have experienced issues elsewhere. In Bridgnorth there were complaints about parking at Severn Park in Low Town when motorists accidentally typed in their wrong vehicle registration number, which led to a £35 fine that can rise to £70 and then bailiff action if not paid within a certain amount of time.

Then Bridgnorth Town Council took the decision to remove all parking charges, at a cost of thousands of pounds, for a month after the machines were smashed up in May.

Meanwhile, cancer patients undergoing hospital treatment in Shrewsbury have been stung with parking fines even though charges for leaving their cars should be waived.

Neil Nisbet, finance director at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said in order for the system to recognise they are eligible for exemptions, their registration number needs to be logged on the system, but this has not always happened.