A parking firm is reminding people of its rules after a man was ticketed because he failed to type in his full car number plate.

Peter Sherwood, of Crown Road, Borehamwood, took his wife, Linda, to an appointment in Barnet Hospital in November, where he paid £3 to park for an hour and a half.

Drivers must type their number plates into the parking meter to pay, which Mr Sherwood and his wife did.

But two weeks later, he was horrified to receive a letter instructing him to pay £60 for failing to pay, or face an increase to £100.

Fortunately, Mr Sherwood still had his receipt - with his correct number plate printed on the side - and sent it to Parking Eye.

However, he only typed in the first four digits instead of the standard seven, and the machine did not warn him he had done so.

Fortunately, Parking Eye waived the charge as a "gesture of goodwill".

Retired finance officer Mr Sherwood said: “Thousands of people use this car park daily and their systems clearly aren’t working. I’m glad I kept my receipt. Who knows what would have happened otherwise?

“It sounds like a scam and that they’re trying to catch people out. What else are you supposed to think?”

A statement from ParkingEye said:  “When an individual parks in a ParkingEye car park they must enter their registration details and pay for the amount of parking they use. If either of these are not done then a vehicle is liable for a parking charge notice. On this occasion the motorist entered an incorrect vehicle registration number.

“We operate an industry-leading audited appeals process as detailed on the parking charge notice and encourage people to appeal if they feel there are extenuating circumstances. In this case the motorist did appeal and as a gesture of goodwill the charge was cancelled

“ParkingEye is a member of the British Parking Association's Approved Operator scheme and is required to follow a Code of Practice that is supported by motoring organisations, consumer groups and the DVLA.”