19 August 2023 , 00:57
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A driver has spoken of his fury after being slapped with a parking fine - despite never leaving his car.
Keith Pointon was trying to make his way to Federation House in Stoke when he took a wrong turn. The 77-year-old found himself in Winton Square Car Park as he tried to avoid busy Winton Square, in Station Road.
Oulton man Keith's penalty notice revealed he spent 10.89 minutes in the car park without paying. He never left his car, or realised he was on private land, but was slapped with a £100 fine - which has since increased to £170 as he is yet to pay, reports Stoke on Trent Live.
Keith said: “It’s very busy there because of the station. What tends to happen is people get picked up and dropped off there. When people are lifting suitcases out, pushchairs, golf clubs, leaving their car doors open, it’s a tricky thing to negotiate at the wrong time.
“We were looking for Federation House. We were looking for a way to get in. We turned off Station Road and went about 50 years down the road. There were different barriered entrances and this car park was the only one open. We didn’t know we were on private land; we didn’t know we’d violated the conditions of that car park. We weren't thinking of parking so we weren’t looking to read the conditions of sale.“
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Keith and his wife went abroad for six weeks after visiting the site and were unaware they had received a penalty until their return. He added: “Both my wife and I can’t remember seeing any signs. Only since going back to check we saw that on the immediate left there is a ticket machine. It’s black; it doesn’t have too much in the way of identification and it’s on the passenger side.
“I’m appealing to anybody who might have some experience of this same location and same problem we have. To my mind, I don’t see any offence in what I did whatsoever.” The fine was issued after Keith parked in the car park back in March.