A roofer has been hit with £300 of parking fines for stopping for just minutes to pick up a colleague.

Carl Scriven, from Margate, says he didn't even get out of his van when he pulled into the Lido car park in Cliftonville to collect his workmate each morning over several days.

Yet Parkingeye, which runs parking on the Ethelbert Terrace site, sent him three bills for £100 each, or £60 if he pays up quickly, as well as two reminders.

Mr Scriven called it "disgusting" and says it feels like a kick in the teeth at an already difficult time.

"Each time, I drove into the car park, did a three-point-turn, then sat in the entrance with my engine running," he said.

"I waited for my colleague to walk down the road, he got in and I drove off. I had someone else in the van who can vouch for that."

Mr Scriven says normally he would have driven to the end of Athelstan Road in Cliftonville to collect his workmate but due to roadworks on Northdown Road he was unable to access it.

He went to Ethelbert Terrace instead which has yellow lines, meaning he couldn't stop, so pulled up in the car park to avoid blocking the road.

"I would never have gone there if I'd have known," he said.

"The signage is terrible. I had no idea I'd get fined for just driving in and not even getting out of my van.

"I don't want this to happen to anyone else so would like this to be a warning for people to be aware."

Mr Scriven says he won't be paying the fines for the simple fact he was only there for a matter of minutes and didn't actually park.

The letter for one of the fines shows he drove in on February 24 at 7.31am and left at 7.36am.

The fine for two days later shows he went in at 7.34am and was gone at 7.40am.

"It's terrible, I can't believe they can do this," he said.

"I'm going to fight this."

A Parkingeye spokesman said: “The motorist has not submitted an appeal to date.

"Motorists with mitigating circumstances are able to appeal their PCN via our BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals service."

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