Residents are outraged after claiming to have received numerous "parking fines" for driving along a back road to reach shops and doctor appointments.

Motorists are refusing to pay a £100 charge for using Nightingale Way to access services in Swanley town centre.

Over the last few weeks shoppers attempting to access the Aldi supermarket - which has a free car park for customers - are said to have been stung by the fee at the adjacent Nightingale Way car park.

The parking facility is run by County Car Parks Ltd (CCP Ltd) which has numerous cameras operating on site and face the supermarket.

But various residents claim they have been snapped simply travelling through an access road, Nightingale Way, without stopping.

Diane Weekes lives locally and regularly shops at Aldi in the town centre.

The 63-year-old care worker was shocked to find a parking charge notice put through her letter box on Saturday.

"I normally go via St Mary's Road but that day I went round the back way.

"I only went to Aldi. I went round and you can see the cameras are facing their car park."

According to the parking charge notice, Diane's vehicle was recorded parking for more than 30 minutes in the town centre car park but she says the photos only show her entering and exiting Nightingale Way to access Aldi.

She added: "There must be hundreds of people and the thing is at this time people have not got that sort of money spare.

"Money is tight as it is without that sort of thing weighing down on you."

Julia Ovenell works in Swanley and regularly uses the side road to reach the supermarket.

She said: "I got a parking fine at the weekend stating that I have 'parked’ down this road on March 10, which is false. I drove to get to Aldi and parked in the Aldi car park.

"I have been down this road another three times, so am I going to get issued another three fines to come through the post?

"I'm so angry about it. All I have done is drive down Nightingale Way to get to Aldi's car park, I’ve done my shopping and exited."

The office worker says she will now avoid the area for fear of future fines.

She added: "I certainly won’t be using the shops there again. Nobody needs this stress and worry at the moment with people losing their jobs and being furloughed and it will be the shops who lose out as they will lose trade."

Others shoppers and road users took to social media to vent their frustration after being snapped while dropping relatives off for doctors appointments.

Several residents have contacted Sevenoaks MP Laura Trott expressing their concerns.

A petition has also been set up calling for fines to be cancelled and has amassed more than 750 signatures in under 24-hours.

Blue badge holder Bob Wiltshere has lived in Swanley all his life but says he now avoids parking in the town centre for fear of such charges.

The 75-year-old former bus driver said: "There is going to be a lot of people not shopping there.

"There is no notice, it is a service road. Motorists are easy prey to anybody."

Swanley Town Council said it understood the "frustration and distress" and had been in "lengthy discussions" with both the car park management firm and the new town centre owners.

Chief executive Ryan Hayman said they were "lobbying for changes to be made to the system, and for all fines issued to date to be cancelled".

In a further statement the authority said: "The parking firm have repeatedly made it clear to us that they do not believe any fines have been issued incorrectly and refuse to give a blanket cancellation of all fines to date as we requested.

"They state as the road is part of the private land, the cameras have been positioned deliberately to capture images correctly on entry and exit of the site.

However, it added "driving along the road is still free without stopping".

Property and investment company London Cambridge Properties (LCP), which manages Swanley Square on behalf of the landlord Evolve Estates Ltd, said the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system was installed in January prior to its acquisition of the estate, and it went live earlier this month.

New signage was also erected across the site in January to update users regarding the new ANPR system.

LCP says users can now pay for parking via the machine with cash or card or they can download an app to their mobile devices to pay.

A spokesman for the company said: “As manager for Swanley Square, we place great emphasis on the safety and security of our visitors.

"We have met with CCP Parking, which manages the parking at Swanley Square on LCP’s behalf, and have been assured that after reviewing each incident, where a fine has been issued, it confirmed that a breach has occurred.”

Last year, the owners of Nightingale Way had the road marked with double red lines at the request of Swanley Town Council, which had noted drivers ignoring the yellow lines and continuing to park along the road and kerbsides.

The town council says if anyone believes their fine has been issued unfairly then they can appeal here.

Those dissatisfied with the outcome of the appeal can have this reviewed by POPLA, an independent body.

Car park management firm CCP Ltd have been contacted for comment.

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