A student slapped with an £85 fine for parking his car at the restaurant he was eating at has branded the policy a “scam”.

Harry Singler was given the penalty by the Toby Carvery on the A41 in Aldenham on September 19, when he went for a congratulatory meal with a friend who was going off to university.

The 18-year-old student from Bushey Heath told the Watford Observer he had eaten at the restaurant before and the parking policy “wasn’t there”.

After parking his Suzuki and enjoying a meal costing £24 with his friend, Oliver, Harry received the charge more than a week later demanding the £85 fine be paid within 28 days.

He said he did not see any signs warning customers about the need to register their vehicle, nor did members of staff inform him of the parking policy.

Harry said: “None of the servers told me, which would’ve been helpful. It was at night, I didn’t see any signs on the way in and had no idea of this policy. I’ve been before, and it wasn’t there.

“I phoned the Toby Carvery and spoke to them about it. They told me there are signs up.

“The signs should be more visible and the people who work there when they serve you should remind you about this policy.

“It’s crazy, I don’t have £85 to pay them. It’s a bit of a scam really. I don’t know what I could have done, it’s just a way to get more money.”

Harry said he sent proof of the parking notice charge to the restaurant but has not had any response since.

He added: “I’m going to contact them again because they said they would try to resolve it if I emailed them.

“They should rescind the charge and come up with a new way to stop people parking there who aren’t using the restaurant.”

A spokesperson for the restaurant said: “We have recently made the decision to introduce a parking monitoring system at the restaurant due to the overuse of the car park by non-guests, meaning at times people intending to visit the restaurant couldn’t as the car park was already full.

“The new system asks guests visiting the Toby Carvery to enter their car registration into a tablet located inside the restaurant, enabling them to use the car park when visiting.

“We’ve installed multiple signs inside the restaurant and across the car park informing guests of the new system. We’re also encouraging our team to make sure guests are fully aware of the new parking arrangements.

“If you feel you have incorrectly received a fine we ask that you get in contact with the team at the restaurant who will be happy to help.”