COMPLAINTS from people receiving parking fines after visiting Warrington Hospital have been rising.

The Guardian has been inundated with complaints in the last week from people claiming they have been unfairly issued with a £75 fine for not paying to park at the Lovely Lane site.

Some of those fined said they must have entered their registration incorrectly as they had paid, while others said they had left the hospital after 30 minutes and returned later to pick someone up but have still been fined.

For others there was confusion over disabled parking, with one man not paying because he was displaying a blue badge despite charges for badge holders being brought in last year and others saying there were no signs nearby so they didn't know they had to pay.

The changes were brought in with a new system provided by Highview Parking which uses ANPR to clock a cars registration when it enters and leaves the site.

A hospital spokesman said: “The system is quite simple and based on national industry standards; we have moved all the payment machines either inside the entrances to the hospitals where possible, or under cover adjacent to the entrances for convenience and accessibility.

“With the system you can pay anytime on entry or exit, and there is no need to display a ticket in your car."

Visitors to the hospital need to enter their full registration number and pay for the time used or that they intend to use and all users, including Blue Badge holders, must pay for their parking.

The spokesman continued: “Please be aware that the parking time commences from when you enter the site, not from when you actually park your car, and finishes as you drive off the site.

“If anyone thinks that they have received a parking charge notice in error they can appeal directly to Highview Parking.

“We have taken our time in introducing this system and have found that the main reasons for people receiving parking charge notices has been not entering their full registration, or not paying for the time that they have used and also being under the impression that if you do not park in a car parking space that you do not have to pay.”

WARRINGTON Hospital offers a range of concessions on car parking charges for regular patients and visitors who need to attend hospital over an extended period.

These concessions are designed to make the costs easier for people who need regular or long term treatment.

To benefit from these arrangements, you must initially pay for parking on your first visit before you can purchase a discounted permit for the period of your treatment.

The range of concessions offered are:

• Patients attending a course of treatment over a number of weeks — present your appointment details to the cash office and you can pay £7 to cover a course of treatment (up to seven visits), and £11 (to cover up to eleven visits)

• Patients attending every day for a week — present your appointment details to the cash office and you can obtain a permit at no charge for the rest of the week

• Visitors attending over an extended period — a pay for parking for the first week, take the tickets to the cash office and you can pay £8 to cover the next seven days. This can be repeated for further weeks

• Oncology patients — Delamere and CANtreat are issuing their patients with permits, which will allow them to park for free. If patients are attending Oncology sessions at Warrington Hospital, please present your appointment letter or details of your treatment at the General Office and your car registration will be entered allowing you to park for free