Surgeon hit with £70 parking fine from Parkingeye while visiting Royal Preston Hospital for training course

A surgeon visiting the Royal Preston Hospital for a training course claims he has been unfairly hit with a £70 parking fine.

The doctor, who asked not to be named, said he had been visiting the hospital in May and had paid the £3.50 car parking charge.

But despite following the rules he was later sent a letter by parking company Parkingeye Ltd, who run the parking operation at the hospital, notifying him that he owed £70 for failure to pay before leaving the car park.

Parkingeye, runs car parks across the UK and is headquartered in Buckshaw Village.

Parkingeye have challenged the date of the surgeon's concession ticket.

The consultant surgeon told the Post: “I have been issued with a £70 fine despite paying the discounted rate of £3.50 clearly shown on my credit card statement.

"I have no receipt as the payment kiosk computer did not produce one. I was attending a training course on May 11 for surgeons'

"The parking company records show no evidence of this in their logs and due to this my appeal at POPLA has failed even though the bank statement and discount voucher were submitted in evidence.”

He added: “Is this happening to other people at the hospital? This has taken up a lot of valuable time and caused unnecessary stress to myself. Travel expenses and parking fees are reimbursed by my Trust for study days and so there is no reason I would not pay a £3.50 charge for parking.”

Disputing the claims, a Parkingeye spokesman said the motorist didn't have proof of payment and provided a concession ticket (scanned at the machine that provides a discount for parking) that was dated November 2022.

"The motorist parked for over eight hours and didn't make any payment”

He said: “Parkingeye has partnered with Chorley and South Ribble Hospital for five years to significantly improve how its car park operates. During this time there has been investment in modern consumer-facing systems which has enhanced accessibility and made parking at the hospital easier and safer for staff, patients and visitors.

"The motorist parked for over eight hours on May 11 this year and didn't make any payment, and therefore correctly received a parking charge notice (PCN). In his appeal he provided evidence of a concession ticket which can be used to receive discounted parking, however this was dated November 2022.

“Parkingeye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their Parking Charge Notice. If anyone has mitigating circumstances, we would encourage them to highlight this by appealing.”