A MAN from Gwynedd has said he refuses to pay the £282 asked of him after he registered a £2.20 parking fee in Bangor with his other vehicle.

David Scott, from Dinorwig, parked at Menai Shopping Centre’s multi-storey car park, for which Excel Parking Services are responsible, just before 1pm on November 1, 2022.

He said he paid the £2.20 parking fee digitally, but mistakenly used the number plate for his other car, rather than the one he had driven to the car park.

David was then issued with a parking charge notice nearly one month later, issuing him with a £100 fine, or £60 if paid within two weeks.

He then lost an appeal against the fine, and a further court hearing last month ruled in Excel’s favour, meaning he now owes the company £282.

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But David says he will not back down from his current stance, adding that he did not attend last month’s hearing due to suffering from “Long COVID”.

David, who has also sought help from Citizens Advice, said: “I did write a letter of appeal to the courts on January 17, explaining my reasons for not attending.

“My defence (in court) was going to be my Long COVID cognitive impairment, but with a certain irony, I managed to remember the date wrong, and consequently missed the hearing.

“There was a lot going on when the letter arrived. My wife was going into hospital for major surgery as part of her cancer treatment, and I was having gall bladder trouble while managing our three daughters and a house as well as I could with Long COVID.

“I don’t intend to pay, so am now waiting anxiously for the demand for £282; aa figure well over 100 times the £2.20 that I paid to park.”

David said that his suffering rom Long COVID meant that he couldn’t manage to pay the parking fee with a card at the machine, which would also not accept cash.

Consequently, he had to download an app to pay for parking.

He stressed that “at no point did I try to cheat or defraud” Excel, given that he did, in fact, pay the amount required of him to park at the shopping centre.

In a letter, shown to the Chronicle, Excel refused David’s appeal on the basis that it is the motorist’s responsibility to check that all details are correct before leaving their vehicle parked.

David added: “I paid, they acknowledge that I paid, and yet they still want hundreds of pounds from me.

“I just want common sense to prevail and for somebody to say: ‘Forget it’. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve done nothing wrong. I went into a car park, and I paid to park.”

Excel previously said that the signs at the car park make it clear that the land is private property and that a charge of £100 will be levied if vehicles park outside of the terms and conditions displayed.

In response, a representative for Excel Parking Services Ltd said: “It is not our intention to repeat our previous statement.

“Following an unsuccessful appeal to the Independent Appeals Service, Mr Scott, by his own admission, wanted his case to be determined at court and in doing so he had the opportunity to defend the claim against him.

“In the absence of his attendance at the court hearing, judgment was awarded to Excel Parking Services Ltd.

“As we highlighted previously, the signage at the car park and on the pay machine made it clear that the full and accurate registration mark must be entered when purchasing the parking tariff.

“Mr Scott appealed the parking charge but failed to provide evidence of his payment or that he had any connection to the vehicle registration he entered.

“Had Mr Scott provided evidence to support his appeal, it is likely a reduction of the charge would have been offered.

“The parking charge remains unpaid.”