A woman from Brockhall Village is calling for changes to be made after her husband was hit with an "unfair" £70 parking fine – and it is not the first time the Whalley car park has made headlines.

James Westbrook, 76, was given a £70 fine after visiting the Co-op in King Street twice in one day on December 18.

While the fine has since been cancelled, his partner Patricia MacGillivray, who appealed the fine on his behalf, is now calling for change so other drivers don't fall victim.

James said he was in the shop for less than half an hour each time, once at around 9.20am, for around 15 minutes, and again at 1.34pm, for around 20 minutes.

Drivers can use this car park for free for up to 30 minutes and customers who spend £5 in store can use the site for two hours.

The penalty notice, seen by the Lancashire Telegraph, shows the car arriving in the morning but not leaving.

Another camera picture shows the car leaving in the afternoon but not arriving.

His partner Patricia MacGillivray has since appealed the fine, issued by Horizon Parking, on James’ behalf and is now calling for change.

She says there was an error with the ANPR cameras on site.

She said: “You couldn’t spent half an hour in the Co-op, never mind the four-and-a-half hours they claim we were there for.

“Because I am a no nonsense person I contacted the Co-op right away and requested CCTV footage and timestamps of when James used his member's card.

“I told this to Horizon and explained they must have a software problem because Co-op confirmed that we had been in in the morning and again in afternoon. 

“I am no a pushover and will see this to the end. I know I have to do all of these follow up and collect evidence because these companies will think nothing about sending bailiffs to your door.

“If this went further I could have been left with a poor credit rating.”

On Friday morning (January 5) the £70 fine was cancelled. In an email, seen by the Lancashire Telegraph, Horizon cited technological errors as one possible reason for the mistake.

Patricia is raising awareness so that another innocent motorist does not have to go through the same issues.

She said: “They emailed me first thing this morning and cancelled the parking charge notice and explained that technological errors occur sometimes.

“Errors like this shouldn’t be happening. They can’t be getting away with this.

“We need to campaign to change this. James was so distressed when the letter came in. Elderly people shop here and might not know how to appeal unjust fines.

“It was hard to contact them about the penalty notice, as appeals cannot be taken by telephone. I have plenty of elderly friends who would not be able to cope with that.

“I hope this is the last unfair fine given out to any member of the public using that car park.”

This is not the first time an “unfair” fine has been given out at the car park.

At the end of 2022 Simon Livesey also came to the Lancashire Telegraph after receiving a £70 fine.

On September 29, Simon used the car park to pick up his order from a Chinese takeaway and said he was only parked for 15 minutes.

He then returned the next morning while on the school run. Again, Simon says he only used it for around 15 minutes.

On both occasions, Simon says he used the shop. 

Despite sticking to the rules, he received a £70 fine from the car park operator, Horizon Parking, saying he had been parked at the site for 12 hours.

Horizon Parking was approached for comment at the time and to this date has still not responded.

A Co-op spokesperson said: “We always want our members and customers to have the best shopping experience when they are visiting Co-op which includes having easy access to our stores.

"We’re working closely with Horizon, the company who operate this car park, to resolve any issues as quickly as possible, so we can continue to offer the best service to our customers.”

Horizon Parking have been approached for comment.