Aldi shopper fined £70 after weekly shop claims parking metre was faulty

Gulf war veteran Leslie Burgess said he ‘religiously’ follows parking rules (Picture: BPM Media)

A veteran was forced to fight off a £70 fine after being slapped with the charge ‘because of a broken parking machine’.

Both Leslie Burgess, 62, who served during the Gulf War, and Juliette Walford, 55, claim they have been unfairly fined after parking outside Aldi, in Dean, Kent.

But Parkingeye, which runs the parking lot, says all machines are working and insists

Leslie and Juliette did not use them correctly.

Leslie told KentLive he stopped to do his monthly food shop on October 22 – but could not put his details into the parking machine like he usually does ‘religiously’.

He said: ‘I tried several times to enter my registration but there were no pictures of my car entering the car park. I thought that it may be faulty so I left’

After

Leslie received the £70 penalty notice, he went back to his local store to complain.

He claims the manager ‘admitted’ the parking machine was faulty and asked for his receipt, which he handed over.

The manager promised to help get the charge canceled and it was revoked – but

Leslie says he would have been charged if he hadn’t kept his receipt.

The former soldier argues it is unfair to fine anyone who mistakingly puts the wrong registration number into the machine too.

Meanwhile, Juliette says she was fined twice in one week, despite her niece entering their number plate digits.

She received one fine after an incident on October 15. After writing a letter, offering her receipt as evidence, she was apparently met with another fine on October 27.

A spokesperson for Aldi said: ‘We’re not aware of a fault with the parking terminal at our Deal store, but are happy to review all cases where a customer believes a parking fine was issued in error.’

A statement from Parkingeye added: ‘The car park at Aldi in Deal is monitored by ANPR camera systems and has prominent and highly-visible signs throughout providing guidance on how to use the car park responsibly.

‘Both motorists failed to register their vehicle correctly and as a result of this they each received a Parking Charge Notice.

‘Mr Burgess’ was however cancelled following an appeal after providing evidence that he was a genuine shopper, and we have now also cancelled Ms Sales’ PCN as a gesture of good will.’

Aldi said it was always prepared to review any situation where a customer feels they have been unfairly fined (Picture: Getty Images)

The statement continued: ‘We would also note that our records show that all three terminals in store were operating effectively and taking transactions on the 15^th and 22^nd of October, which were the dates that the respective PCNs were issued.

‘Parkingeye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their Parking Charge Notice. If anyone has mitigating circumstances, we would encourage them to highlight this by appealing.

‘All motorists are also entitled to a further appeal via POPLA, the independent body which reviews all cases.’