Mansfield Town fan shocked by FA Cup parking fine he knew nothing about

Angry Stags fan Ian Messner, who has been landed with a parking fine he knew nothing about from the FA Cup tie against Middlesbrough in January.

But fast forward three months and the agony has been prolonged after he received a belated parking fine from the day of £170 that he knew nothing about.

"I am in shock,” said 37-year-old Ian. “It is ridiculous and unjust.

"It feels so wrong, and I want to warn other Stags fans not to fall for the same thing.”

Action from Stags' FA Cup, Third Round tie against Middlesbrough in January as Ollie Clarke battles for the ball.

Season-ticket holder Ian, who hails from Warsop, drove to the cup-tie from his home in Cardiff and after meeting dad Brian, 68, he headed for a pay-and-display car park at Commercial Gate, owned by Euro Car Parks (ECP).

However, there was a long queue of drivers struggling to use the cashless ticket-machine that wasn’t functioning properly.

And when he finally got to the front about 20 minutes later, the machine rejected both his debit card and the Samsung Pay account on his mobile phone.

Ian opted to leave and park up in another car park nearby while he watched the match. And after driving home, he thought nothing more of it.

But then the extra-time that Stags wanted in the game came Ian’s way with regard to his ticket. For suddenly, out of the blue last week, he received a letter from a debt recovery agency, telling him he must cough up a £170 parking notice by this Thursday or face court proceedings.

"Apparently, number-plate recognition cameras at the Commercial Gate car park registered the fact that I was parked there for longer than the ten-minute grace period without a ticket,” said angry Ian.

The reason he hadn’t received the notice earlier was because he hadn’t updated his vehicle logbook when moving house last year – and so it had been sent to his previous address.

"The time lapse meant I also lost my ability to pay the lowest fine,” added Ian. “And I had no right to reply or appeal.

"I accept I have an element of responsibility for not updating the logbook. But I am gutted the fine is so high and I am not able to give my side of the story.

"I called the debt recovery firm and was put on hold for 80 minutes before speaking to someone who just couldn’t care less.

"I tried to call ECP but was diverted straight to an answer machine, and they seem to be unreachable. I emailed them, explaining my cause, but I have yet to hear back.”

Ian, who works as a performance manager for Network Rail Wales, feels his only option now is to pay up because the deadline is so short and he does not want to face legal action.

He said: "I’ve been left in a Catch-22, and I don’t want this hanging over my head.

“It feels crazy to be paying such a hefty bill because of their faulty machine, and that no-one will listen to me.

"I want to raise awareness of this unfair penalty and to make sure other drivers know to change their details when moving house.”

The Chad has contacted ECP for a comment.