Retired Cornish nurse, 71, hit by parking fine because she can't download app

A 71-year-old woman from Cornwall is refusing to pay a parking fine despite being chased by the parking company for almost a year.

Agnes Chandler said she was unable to pay for her ticket when she parked in Wadebridge because the machine was broken.

Park Services Limited, who operates the car park, argued Mrs Chandler should have paid through the app and has since escalated the fine to £160.

Mrs Chandler does not know how to download an app and insists she will not succumb to the company’s “bully-boy tactics”.

She said: "They can continue to send me their letters every month but I'm not paying. I'm making a stand for the older generation who's being excluded because they don't have an app."

The facility is co-owned by Wadebridge Town Council and the Co-op but is operated by Parking Services LTD.

On 23 January 2023, Mrs Chandler parked her car on the Jubilee Road car park in Wadebridge before visiting her local cinema with a friend.

A few days later, the retired nurse from Tintagel received a letter asking for £60 from the company, but when she argued the machine was out of service she was told she should have paid using the app.

"That's when I saw red," Mrs Chandler said. "I wouldn't know how to install an app. I'm not going to download apps for every car park I go to. How are people supposed to do all that when they're old? 

“My husband is 85. He has not got apps on his phone. He couldn't park anywhere on his own now. These people are stopping older people from going out and enjoying themselves.

"What's wrong with machines that work with either cards or coins? It might come back and bite me on the butt, but I'm not paying.”