MOTORIST Jo Willis left her vehicle in a town centre car park and paid for her time there - but still ended up with a ticket demanding she pays a fine!

MOTORIST Jo Willis left her vehicle in a town centre car park and paid for her time there - but still ended up with a ticket demanding she pays a fine!

Mrs Willis, of Case Lane, Bentley, parked her car in Cromwell Square car park in Ipswich, and bought a ticket for a couple of hours while she headed into town with her husband Paul.

Realising that she would need to stay longer, she popped back to the car and bought another ticket to last a further two hours.

After just over an hour she returned to her car to head home, but discovered a parking ticket, which explained that she had been penalised as she should have driven out of the car park and then back in again before buying the second ticket.

Mrs Willis, 34, who has a son William, said: “I put enough money in the machine to get a ticket for three hours until 2pm. The car park was not busy at all. I came back at 1.30pm because we needed a bit longer in town and I got another ticket to last us two more hours. The car park was still not busy.

“I came back and discovered I had got a parking ticket because my vehicle had not left the premises and come back in before I topped up my ticket. I could not believe it. We thought we were doing the decent thing by coming back to top up the ticket.

“It was just meant to be a nice day out for me and my husband and now we have got this fine. We already spent �7 on parking tickets and now they want �25.”

The fine is �25 if it is paid within 14 days. If the payment is after this date, it increases to �50.

A spokeswoman for Ipswich Borough Council said: “If Mrs Willis would like to appeal the penalty notice in writing, the circumstances surrounding this charge will be investigated.”

Have you experienced a similar parking scandal? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.