Hi,
A week ago on Saturday (22nd October) I received a parking ticket (attached/below). It was in a car park at a local train station. It's also close to some shops on a main street so people use it quite a lot because it's cheap and convenient.
It used to be 20p for 30 mins. I had 20p and arrived in the car park just after 5pm (5:06pm to be precise). I got out of the car and walked over to the meter to pay the 20p. I noticed they increased the tariffs slightly - now 30p for 30 mins. After searching in my pocket and wallet I realised that I annoyingly didn't have any more change.
I'd only stopped in the car park to pick up some small items from a local shop (toothbrush, toothpaste etc).
So I quickly ran to get some money/change so I could put money in the meter. I thought I'll grab a coffee after I've paid the meter to take advantage of the 30mins I'd be paying for. I got to the cash machine - about a 1min quick walk/run away from the meter - there was a very small queue. I probably waited for the two people in front of me for no more than 2mins. I got £50 cash out of the ATM then quickly ran to the shop to grab some change so I could put "30p" in the meter.
Now, I have no idea how I could've got hold of some petty change any quicker than what I did. However, I got back to my car to see that some eagle-eyed parking attendant has wasted no time in slapping a PCN ON MY WINDSCREEN!!
How on earth could I have abided by the rules here? I literally RAN to the cash machine, RAN to the shop, got change, then RAN back to my car.
Are we now saying that if you turn up to a car park with no change 'ready', you instantly receive a parking fine. This is utterly crazy!
I was observed from 5:07pm (literally just as I parked) and received a ticket at 5:12pm. I got back to my car just after this but the parking attendant had clearly legged it!