Motorist fined £100 for parking inches outside space - in empty car park

A motorist is fuming after being fined £100 for parking a few inches outside of a space - in a deserted car park.

Peter Barr, 61, paid a visit to the set of his favourite TV show, Doc Martin, in Port Isaac, Cornwall.

He found the local car park virtually empty and paid £3 to leave his Mercedes for several hours while he wandered around the pretty fishing village.

But he and his wife Jill returned to find their 4x4 had been slapped with a £100 ticket - because its wheels had crept eight inches into the empty neighbouring car park bay.

Peter says the fine is 'absurd' because just four other cars were parked in the lot at the time, leaving 95 empty spaces.

However, car park operator AS Parking is refusing to overturn the charge, insisting that its agent was right to issue the penalty last Thursday afternoon.

Peter, a retired bank worker, says he's only prepared to pay for a second ticket - to cover the space he encroached upon.

He said: 'I'm quite prepared to pay them £3 for parking in the second bay but they don't allow any right of appeal for anything other than exceptional circumstances.

'This is absurd. They basically write their own rules and laws.'

Peter and Aileen, from Livingston, Scotland, were on holiday when they decided to stop at the picturesque fishing village.

The area is used as a location for the fictional town of 'Portwenn' in the ITV series Doc Martin, which stars Martin Clunes as a grumpy GP.

Peter said: 'I got my £3 parking ticket, set off down into the village and enjoyed walking around the TV set in my mind.

[Teen issues brilliant ticket to illegally-parked police officer]

'When I returned to the car park I found a Parking Notice Charge which said I was not wholly within the parking bay.

'I agree I was about eight inches outside the bay on the passenger side - I hadn't noticed.

'But the car park was less than five per cent full so I wasn't inconveniencing anyone and as this was late afternoon the car park wasn't going to get any fuller.

'Now I have been stung with a £100 fine for my being the two hand-widths out of line.'

Kevin McManus, AS Parking manager, explained the notice was issued correctly as the vehicle encroached more than one parking space.

He said: 'I have now reviewed this and can see that the notice was issued correctly as the vehicle was not parked within a single allocated bay.

'Terms & Conditions of use apply at all times and are non-negotiable, therefore the issuing officer was correct in issuing the notice.

[Parking mad: UK's 'most pointless double yellow lines' are just 18 inches long]

'We have to issue notices for all contraventions, however minor they may appear to onlookers, in order to remain fair and consistent.

'Having said the above, if a motorist appeals in cases such as this  - a minor contravention - we always offer a concession as a gesture of good will, instructing them to ensure that they adhere to the rules in the future.'

Last August, two of the show's fans were also fined for parking slightly over a neighbouring bay in the same car park.