A teacher who paid £2.50 to park at a country park is being threatened with court action from debt collectors.

Tom Green had a meeting at Lullingstone Country Park in Eynsford on February 15 to discuss a charity event for his school.

When he tried to put his number plate into the parking meter, the screen was blank.

The 46-year-old pressed the green button in frustration and a ticket was issued which he displayed in his windscreen.

He was able to pay the £2.50 using his phone.

At the same time, another person in the car park said he was facing a similar problem.

However, just a few weeks later he received a £35 fine claiming he had not purchased a valid ticket.

Tom appealed the fine, providing proof of payment and an explanation of the difficulty he had faced paying as well as his reason for attending. But this was rejected.

Now, six months later, he has appealed twice more and the fine has increased to £140. He has also been sent three letters from Debt Recovery plus threatening court action.

Tom, from Southborough, said: “I thought this seems grossly unfair. It is frustrating but I’m sure this can be resolved pretty simply.

“It has caused me stress during the holidays because I’m getting these repeated letters.

“I’ve found myself thinking, let’s get this out the way and pay it, but I don’t think it’s fair when I’ve done nothing wrong.

“It feels like a company that’s bullying its way to taking money off people unnecessarily.”

In the appeal acknowledgement, Euro Car Parks confirmed it could see that he had paid but because it couldn’t see his registration plate it claimed there was a “major keying error” by Tom.

Instead, the company said he could pay a £20 administration fee to resolve the situation.

But, the dad-of-two, said: “That’s just a different, equally outrageous charge. Why would I need to pay the administration fee when they’ve acknowledged that I paid.

“I felt pretty aggrieved that they would even have the audacity to come back and say you now owe us an admin fee.”

In addition, the teacher has also expressed frustrations with the company’s customer service.

He added: “At no point was Euro Car Parks able to be contacted – the only way you can contact them apart from going through their online appeals process is a written letter which is almost archaic.

“There is no way of communicating with them by phone and the customer service number only gets you through to someone to pay.”

The teacher, who has been with his current school for seven years, believes Euro Car Parks, upon confirming proof of payment, should have apologised for its faulty machine and removed the fine.

To make matters worse, the reception staff offered to add Tom’s number plate to the system as he was a guest, but he declined having already paid for the ticket at the machine.

As the Community Services coordinator at a school in Sevenoaks, he was there to organise the ‘Make a Difference Day’ which sees students and teachers visit 12 sites in the county to volunteer their time for various projects.

Read more: ANPR cameras fining visitors to Kent’s country parks

Tom spent 45 minutes at the park in Castle Road discussing the charity event but says he would think twice about going there because the parking experience has been “so horrific”.

The school’s volunteering day is set take place in October and involves de-littering, removing weeds and tending to the flowerbeds around the car park.

Talking of the ordeal, Tom said: “There has to be an understanding and an acknowledgement that if you’re doing charity work you shouldn’t be punished for trying to do it.

“If Euro Car Parks system has a problem it cannot be the customer that ends up paying for it.”

Tom does not plan to pay the fine and is willing to see it through until the end.

Euro Car Parks has been contacted for a comment.