Grandmother hit with £90 parking fine after grandson's M&S vomit

Anita Wilson, 57, could be forced to fork out £90 for overstaying at the M&S Food Hall at Solent Retail Park – after her grandson vomited as she prepared to pay up and leave.

Three-year-old Alfie McHugh was ‘violently sick’ while the pair were out during the afternoon of Saturday, March 26.

The youngster enjoyed a leisurely shop before suddenly falling ill and needing a change of clothes and first aid treatment from M&S staff.

As a result, Anita was forced to stay by his side in-store – overstaying its private car park’s two-and-a-half-hour policy by 28 minutes.

Now, after a failed Popla (Parking on Private Land Appeal) and months of battling the penalty from Euro Car Parks – which runs the site – she has just 24 hours to pay up.

The Tesco worker, from Waterlooville, said: ‘I am absolutely disgusted that I am still expected to pay this fine.

‘There was no way I could have known my grandson was going to be sick like that.

‘And when he was, as his grandmother, I could not have just left him in the store while I went outside to move my car knowing how unwell he was – that’s ridiculous.’

Mrs Wilson parked her white Kia at the Solent Road site, in Havant, at 2.55pm.

She was unable to leave until 5.53pm.

Recalling the moment Alfie fell ill, she said: ‘He was asleep in his pushchair, he woke up and – I’m not just saying it – it was very full on, three times.

‘I thought I was going to be sick myself.’

While The News has contacted Euro Car Parks and has not received a response, Mrs Wilson is holding on to a glimmer of hope the fine could be cancelled.

In a statement issued yesterday, a spokesperson for M&S said: ‘We are supporting Mrs Wilson and working with Euro Car Parks to come to an agreed resolution.’

At the prospect of his wife not having to fork out, Nigel Wilson, 55, said: ‘I would be very pleased. I can understand the fine standing if it was a customer who had deliberately stayed to shop.

‘But I cannot see how the company can stand by its decision to charge in this unusual circumstance. It just seems like a money-making exercise.’

Mrs Wilson added: ‘I’m a huge M&S fan, but this is just so unfair. If the store could help me, I’d be so grateful.’