Couple slapped with £100 parking fine after 'machine error'

ROB AND LIZ SINER SAID THEY'VE USED THE CAR PARK FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS AND NEVER HAD A PROBLEM 19:00, 20 May 2025 A couple from Litherland have been fined £100 for non-payment of a car

park fee, but said a machine error is responsible for the mishap and want to raise awareness of the issue. Rob and Liz Siner said they've used the car park facilities on Tulketh Street,

Southport for the last 20 years and have never had a problem. Following their visit to Southport on May 3, the couple parked in their usual place above the Sports Direct store, did some

shopping and returned home by car - the only notable difference was a minor error on the parking machine but they paid a fee and left without giving too much thought to it. However, a week

later the couple received a £100 Parking Charge Notice (PCN) for non-payment of parking fees. The PCN was addressed to Rob and was issued by UK Parking Administration Ltd (UKPL), stating his

vehicle was in breach of its terms of conditions, and confirming "We are using cameras to capture images of vehicles entering and leaving the car park to calculate their length of

stay." The Liverpool ECHO has contacted UK Parking Administration Ltd for a comment on Mr Siner's case. The couple attributed the problem to a faulty parking machine which failed

to register their vehicle's registration number. Liz said: "Rob tried inputting the registration details but the machine wasn't recognising the information." Liz said the

machine asked for the time they arrived and stipulated they had stayed just over two hours, adding: "The machine said pay £1.50 which I duly did with my debit card which was accepted.

Nothing massively unusual so we just went home and forgot all about it. "A week later, we get a parking fine off UK Parking Administration Ltd (UKPL) saying that we didn't pay at

all." The couple said UKPL informed them their vehicle was logged as entering the car park at 11:12am and leaving at 2:05pm and argue the ANPR system should be linked to the payment

logs and confirm their stay. According to the couple, UKPL said there was a non-payment breach and told them they've got to pay a £100 fine, Liz added: "I got onto them to appeal

because I know I paid and have the payment on my bank statement. "I went on the UKPL website and I've explained the whole situation and they told me they'd just accept £20

then, but I thought no way. I just think it's wrong. "The [ANPR] has got a clear picture of us going in and coming out. I have got proof I've paid. Put those things together

and the facts are the facts. "Just because their machine is faulty and didn't accept the registration number. That's on them but we get the fine. "I thought I'd

raise this because this could happen to vulnerable and elderly people who might not know how to fight it and get scared and just accept the fine through no fault of their own. "In all

reality, you don't normally check the time when you get there because you know the machine logs it for you - just like it has every time we have visited there over the years. "You

don't get to the car park and check the time you get there because you know the machine's gonna do it for you cause we used it for several years. Article continues below Liz added

that they could not know the exact timings of their stay because of the faulty machine: "Now, there might be an issue with the amount we paid because the machine wasn't working and

the timings might have been off, but our expectation was set that the machine always does that. We paid and left. "We've appealed and explained and they've reduced it to £20

which sort of shows you they know they're in the wrong and I bet we're not the only ones who've had this. "It's £20 yes, but its the principle of it and also raise

awareness for other people who've experienced the same thing."