AN ANGRY motorist has called the parking system outside his flat an ‘absolute scam’ after he was fined £100 for taking 10 minutes to load his car.

Matt Chapman, aged 34, of Armstrong Drive in Diglis, was issued with a ticket by Parking Control Management (PCM) for loading his car outside his flat last November.

He claims there is nowhere else to leave his car close to his flat and therefore any kind of loading or unloading is impossible without risking a fine. 

Regarding the incident in which he was fined, he said that, after noticing a parking attendant, he informed her that he was just carrying down a few items from his flat and would only be 10 minutes.

The parking attendant acknowledged Mr Chapman but when he returned with a second load he found a ticket for £100 on his windscreen.

Furious, he took the matter to court, but a judge ruled in favour of the parking enforcement company and added court costs, meaning Mr Chapman’s bill now stands at £272.

He said: “I think it’s an absolute scam. There are parking restrictions absolutely everywhere, you can’t stop your car anywhere or at any time.

“Don’t get me wrong, I live here, I can fully understand that people don’t want the road full of cars and I am not the kind of person that parks wherever he wants, but when you’re having to park 20 minutes away because there are not enough spaces, it starts to become a bit of a joke. 

“I’ll pay it, of course I’ll pay it, but it seems absolutely ridiculous and I think there needs to be some kind of common sense.”

Mr Chapman has also questioned how anybody is supposed to move house in the area without being fined.

“How do people move in? Are they really expecting people to park 20 minutes away to move all of their stuff in?” he added.

“I asked the judge what would happen if somebody new was moving in and they were using a removal lorry and he just told me that they would have to pay the fine too. Why can’t they look at the rules and allow 10 minutes loading time?”

In June 2014, he had two tickets issued within a week of each other overturned after complaining to the company.