SHOPPERS are threatening to boycott Cockhedge Shopping Centre after scores of motorists were slapped with £100 fines.

The town centre shopping park overhauled its parking system in November, but a host of complaints have been made after a number of £100 fines were dished out.

Motorists have complained about the visibility of signage, machines that do not tell users how much they need to pay and a frustrating appeals process.

One user was told by an operator that parking was free, but was subsequently charged £100 by Parking Eye, who run the car park, as it is only free for two hours.

Graham Beecham was fined following his visit on December 11.

The Latchford resident said: “I’m really peeved about it and I know other people have had the same thing.

“The signs are not big enough to see – especially when you’re not very well sighted like me.

“The barriers to the car park were up so we thought it was free and the bloke in the high-vis jacket told us it was.

“Then we got this letter through the post saying we had a £100 fine.

“I’ve spoken to other people – we didn’t know we had to pay and if you’re over two hours by a few minutes you get charged £100.

“They’re going to lose customers, all my relatives and friends say they aren’t going to shop there anymore.”

Shoppers have been left guessing how much to pay for parking as Cockhedge’s ticket machines do not tell motorists how long they have been parked.

Martin Berman from Fearnhead was also fined after a visit to the Cockhedge Centre in December.

He said: “You have to guess how much to pay and if you get it wrong it’s a grossly disproportionate charge.

“A lot of people have been hit with £100 charges and it was not clear to them that such a charge existed – the signage was originally very bad and there was no way to work out how much you were supposed to pay from the machine.

“If it was just me I wouldn’t worry but it’s very clear that a significant number of people have been caught out – this is unacceptable.

“A lot of people seem to be willing to boycott it.”

Tom Hughes’ partner was fined after paying £10 to park at the Cockhedge Centre, but she stayed four minutes longer than the allowed time – he was left frustrated with the appeals process.

The 23-year-old, who lives in Howley, said: “I was raging – my partner works in the Cockhedge Centre and usually parks elsewhere but she was running late and parked there instead.

“We’ve just moved into a new house and we’ve got an 11 month old son, so it’s been a hectic time anyway and then they’re sending these letters through.

“You can only appeal online or send a letter because if you try and call them it cuts the line if you select any option other than to pay.

“It’s just infuriating – we’ve had to go online and we’ve been waiting for an internet connection at our house so we’ve had to use data on our phones to do it.

“If it was an old dear who was receiving this kind of letter it would be terrifying.”

George Wesson, centre manager, said: "As previously stated the main reason in changing the car park system at Cockhedge was to allow for a two hour free shopping experience for all our customers.

"Before the new car park system went live all car park barrier arms were completely removed and full signage was put in place.

"Although some of this signage is placed at an elevation that protects it from damage there are also many signs at a lower level, most noticeably adjacent to each of the seven pay stations located throughout the car park.

"At each entrance to the car park there are large signs which after informing users that the car park is free for two hours then go on to state that a tariff applies thereafter.

"Being so close to the town centre it is necessary that the shopping centre car park is chargeable, In order to ensure that genuine customers have space to park. This should be no surprise to our customers, as the Cockhedge car park has always been a chargeable car park.

"It is therefore also necessary that this freedom for genuine shoppers to park is also protected. The recognised way to do this is to penalise those who are parked longer than the two hour free period who do not then pay for the additional time spent on the car park.

"The charges for failing to pay for the correct amount of time spent on the car park are commensurate with the industry standard.

"We are happy to be able to continue to offer two hours free parking to all our customers and feel that the majority of visitors to the shopping centre welcome this."