Gosport driver speechless after challenging £100 Thorngate Hall parking charge thanks to Streetwise

She’d met up with friends in October for lunch, paid a £2 parking fee, then displayed the ticket on her windscreen and thought no more about it.

But when she returned from a short holiday break a few weeks later she discovered to her astonishment she’d been clobbered with a £100 penalty charge.

When Streetwise challenged the firm to provide evidence to substantiate the charge they refused to back down.

Consumer expert Richard Thomson who writes the weekly column for The News, insisted Ann wouldn’t pay a penny until they could prove from the parking machine records she hadn’t paid up.

If they tried to intimidate her they were potentially flouting unfair trading regulations and their consumer credit debt collector licence could also be at risk.

As a result Ann’s protest was vindicated when she promptly received a letter from the firm to say they’d cancelled the penalty charge.

‘I don’t know what to say,’ Ann told Streetwise. ‘I couldn’t possibly have done it without you.’

A Smart Parking spokesperson said: ‘Smart Parking are proud members of the BPA, and operate a BPA-audited appeals process.

‘We cannot find any evidence that Mrs Simmonds paid for her parking, and during the appeals process we were not offered any evidence of payment. Our records show no evidence of a faulty machine at the car park at the time of the parking event.’