(Image: JACQUELINE EGGLESTONE)
A couple is fighting a £60 fine after parking outside a North East KFC branch, as they believe the penalty was wrongly issued.
Jacqueline and Grahame Egglestone received a £60 parking ticket in the post, stating that they were parked over the white line of a parking bay at the Marina Way car park outside KFC in Hartlepool, on July 10.
Jacqueline said her husband parked to one side of the bay as she has a false ankle and needs extra room to get out of the car.
The 68-year-old said: "If we were straddling the white line and taking up two bays or parked on double yellows or in a disabled bay, then I could understand that.
"But for what we’ve done – it’s unbelievable.
"My husband always parks slightly to one side of the bay because I’ve got a false ankle and I need the door to open as much as possible so I can get out of the car without hurting myself.
"We weren’t obstructing anything.
"There was no car on the right of us – there was no one in the car park, it was empty.
"These companies need taken to task."
The car park's owner says they take concerns about the fairness of parking charges seriously.
Jacqueline added that the picture on the parking ticket does not show a car to their left angled towards them, meaning they had to move to the other side of the bay even more.
The pair say they didn’t receive the ticket until July 27 and, because they had limited time to pay before the price increased to £100, they say they felt pressured to pay the fine.
Mrs Egglestone said: "You’re meant to be given 14 days to pay, but we only had two because it arrived so late.
She later took to Facebook to express her frustration and says she received messages from other people who have had similar fines.
"It’s a disgrace that everywhere down Hartlepool Marina people are getting fined for something so trivial," she added.
A spokesperson for Viking Solutions, the company which issued the fine, said: "We take concerns about the fairness of parking charges seriously.
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"Where concerns are raised, they are reviewed through our formal processes.
"While we cannot comment on individual cases, maintaining standards and public confidence remains our priority."
Grahame Egglestone has complained to the company about the ticket.