Driver pays for parking but still receives fine

A MOTORIST who used a high-tech method of paying for her parking in Tonbridge is furious at being slapped with a ticket.

Matfield resident Helen Burnop paid for her stay in the Angel Centre by using a mobile phone application.

Mrs Burnop, a nurse at Tonbridge School, told the Courier she made the "honest mistake" of paying for her own car after forgetting she was driving her husband's car that day.

A parking attendant advised the 39-year-old mother of three to challenge the ticket but, after doing so, she was shocked when the council replied there were "no sufficient grounds" to cancel it.

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She said: "While I appreciate it was an error on my part, I felt the council would see I had paid to park and that my intentions were honourable.

"If the council is embracing these new parking technologies, they should also embrace user error, especially when parking has been paid for. I'm really disappointed with them."

This week, Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council director of planning and transport Steve Humphrey stood by his officers' decisions.

Referring to Mrs Burnop's case, he said: "We appreciate the phone payment system is relatively new, but it is simple to use, there are easy to read instructions and the system has been used previously by the driver concerned."