A driver who was being chased for a parking infringement despite being parked elsewhere has had her fine cancelled.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, said she entered the Park and Shop BP petrol station on the corner of Montague Street and Preston New Road, Blackburn, on Tuesday, December 3.
A ticket issued said the car entered the forecourt at 7.40am and then appears to have left at 2.19pm. However, CCTV images showed the car parked elsewhere.
Parking at the forecourt is limited to 90 minutes and it is covered by Vars Technology, which records the movements of cars. Infringements are charged at £100, lowered to £60 if paid within 14 days.
The company said they had now cancelled the ticket following further investigation as a 'gesture of goodwill' and said the motorist had not sent in evidence of the car being parked elsewhere within the set time frame.
They said they were 'fair company to deal with' and if the motorist had provided the evidence within the time frame - no ticket would have been issued.
The fine however had been passed on to another debt collection firm, who was still chasing up the money from the woman this month. This has also been cancelled.
The woman said that after using the service station, she then left the forecourt through an exit at the back of the site, and then came back to the forecourt later in the day.
The forecourt has an entrance and an exit from Preston New Road at the front, but also a third exit to the rear into Montague Street, which is sometimes used by drivers who have pumped their tyres up.
However, after receiving a ticket, the woman said she forwarded CCTV images showing her car was actually in the Blackburn College car park that day.
Despite this, she has spent the past six months wrangling with the firms, trying to get them to see common sense and to drop the unjustly issued fine.
Since the notification, the driver has sent evidence to Vars Technology Ltd and DCB Limited, who chase up fines on behalf of the parking company.
A family member of the woman, who has been emailing the debt collection company, said: “The site has two exits, one of which doesn’t have a camera.
"People use that exit all the time, when they can.
“We have provided sufficient evidence to show the car was actually somewhere else.
“There has been no evidence to show the car actually parked in the forecourt.
“There is no reason why the car would be parked there anyway for such a long time, as our house is around the corner.”
CCTV images and correspondence seen by the Lancashire Telegraph, dated January show the car entering the Blackburn College car park and the woman exiting the vehicle. She enters the campus at 7.47am and leaves the site at 10.31am on Tuesday, December 3, 2024.
Vars Technology said they had investigated the notice and confirmed that the fine had been cancelled.
According to correspondence, the company had requested evidence to be provided in December.
A spokesperson said: "When the motorist contacted us in the first instance to tell us about the error, we provided 10 days for them to provide any evidence to support their claim that it was incorrect.
"They failed to do so within this time frame, so the claim continued to escalate as per our normal procedures.
"The motorist then provided the evidence they had provided to you, nearly a month later. By then, the claim had already escalated to our debt collection team and they had made contact.
"We are a very reasonable, professional, and fair company to deal with and had the motorist provided the evidence we required within the time frame stated it would have been cancelled immediately."
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