A SHOPPER who was hit with a £90 fine despite paying for parking in Basildon claims he has been "totally ripped off". 

Steven Speroni, from Laindon, parked on the surface car park at the Westgate shopping centre.

When he left he paid the £2 fee the machine said he owed for his two hours parking and left. 

But two weeks later Mr Speroni was “outraged” to find a penalty charge notice of £90 sent to his address stating that he had not paid for his parking during the visit last month.

The driver appealed to Group Nexus, who issued the charge, but had his appeal rejected.

Outraged: Steven, 54, has now appealed the charge with independent service POPLA.Outraged: Steven, 54, has now appealed the charge with independent service POPLA. (Image: Steven Speroni)

However, the fine was reduced to £20, with the company saying this was because the payment did not cover full duration of his parking stay.

Mr Speroni, 54, has vowed to fight the charge and launched an appeal with independent service POPLA this week.

He said: “I am outraged. You can’t send me a charge notice when I have clearly paid for my parking.

“After I appealed it they sent me a weird letter saying they rejected my appeal, even though I provided them with the receipt to show I paid, and that they’re willing to settle for £20 which makes no sense.

“It seems as if their automatic machine did not calculate the correct amount but that’s not my fault, why should I be fined for that? I feel totally ripped off.”

He also raised concerns this could become a wider issue for other drivers using the car park. 

“I know I can just pay the £20 and get on with it but it’s the principle. I’m willing to take them to court over this if my appeal with POPLA fails,” he said.

“My worry is this could happen to elderly people or others who won’t fight it and will just pay the £90. It’s not fair at all and could be a much wider issue. It’s like the wild west because they can just tell anyone their machine has made a mistake in calculation and they need to charge you. They need a wake up call, they can’t just send PCNs willy-nilly to people.”

Mariam Yaqub, St Martin’s ward councillor, called for parking issues at Westgate to be taken seriously.

She said: “It’s incredibly unfair. It’s important for residents to follow rules but there have been issues at the Westgate car park for years now and when so many residents come forward with issues in the past year, I think it should be taken more seriously.”

Group Nexus and POPLA were contacted for comment.