A MAN who took a holiday to Anglesey last month with his wife said their visit to Caernarfon was soured by him later receiving an “absurd” parking fine.

Richard Adams, from Havant, travelled to Caernarfon with his wife on July 31 to take the steam train from the station.

They parked in the Slate Quay car park, and, he said “followed all the instructions and paid £8 by card”.

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But on August 10, Richard said he received a penalty charge notice (PCN) from operators Initial Parking, demanding £100 (or £60 if he paid early) for non-payment of parking fee.

Initial Parking said that Richard failed to enter his full vehicle registration, and as such, a PCN was issued to him.

Richard said: "Luckily, I still had the park and display ticket. I immediately appealed against the ‘fine’, with photographic evidence of the ticket, and offered to send a copy of my bank statement as further proof.

“I thought this would be the end of the matter, but no. On the following Monday (August 12), I received an email saying my appeal had been turned down.

"Not because I hadn't paid, but because only the first two characters of my registration appeared on the ticket, and I had not read the instructions on the signage, so would only be fined £20.

“This is absurd - why would anyone deliberately just put the first two letters of their registration plate?

“To me, this would indicate the machine was at fault, and as far as I can remember, there was nothing on the ‘clear’ signage to indicate what a correct ticket should look like.

“I would go and check, but driving over three hundred miles to do this would cost more than the £20!”

Richard said he ultimately decided to pay the PCN upon receipt of a “threatening” letter from Initial Parking.

He said the experience “soured my impression of Caernarfon”, albeit not the “ordinary people who were warm and friendly”, and said he “really loved the town and the steam train”.

In response to his comments, an Initial Parking spokesperson said: “The motorists’ appeal was declined as they did not enter the full, correct, vehicle registration - the evidence provided shows they purchased a ticket for “DA”.

“As per the new BPA Code of Practice regarding major keying errors, a reduced fee of £20.00 was offered in order to close the case.

“As per the advertised terms and conditions, it is the responsibility of the motorist to ensure they make payment for the full and correct vehicle registration mark when utilising this car park.

“We can confirm that we had over 360 payments made correctly on the motorist’s date of contravention, and as the motorist paid against an incorrect registration mark, the charge was issued correctly.

“When an appeal is declined, motorists then have the opportunity to continue their appeal with the independent appeals service, POPLA, should they not be happy with our decision.

“Details on how to do so are included within the appeal reply. In this instance, the motorist did not continue the appeal process. 

“We can confirm as full payment has since been received, full liability has been accepted, therefore the case has now been closed.”