A shopper who visited High Wycombe has criticised what he claims is a lack of clear signage in a town centre car park after he was slapped with a fine.

Nick Bourton, who lives in Aylesbury, visited the town centre and parked in Totteridge Road car park, which is run by Wycombe District Council, on October 5.

Not realising that the car park payment system had changed from ‘pay on return’ to ‘pay on arrival’, Mr Bourton attempted to pay for his four-hour parking when he returned to his vehicle after shopping – but he had been given a penalty charge notice for £25.

The paystation was out of use at the time because of a “mechanical fault” – with a note asking drivers to pay via phone through RingGo.

Mr Bourton paid the £4.30 charge for parking anyway and tried to plead his case with the council – claiming the signage was unclear – but his appeal was rejected.

Mr Bourton said the whole situation was “frustrating” and he will not return to shop in High Wycombe “on principle” because of the ordeal.

He has now appealed to Wycombe District Council to return his £4.30, but that has not yet been addressed.

He said: “If I am to be fined £25 then I want a refund of the £4.30 that I paid which also entitled me to stay there until Sunday morning. My time in the car park was significantly a lot less than this.

“Seeing as this is a genuine oversight, and not a deliberate action it seems very unfair to fine me. With a serious downturn in high street footfall I cannot see why you are intent on fining someone who helped to keep your town centre vibrant by contributing to the local economy.”

In an email to Wycombe District Council’s parking team, Mr Bourton said: “Because of this I have no intention of visiting High Wycombe in the future.

“When members of the public take the trouble to visit your town and raise its economy it is very disappointing to fine them for a genuine mistake. High Wycombe will now miss out on my financial support, which I am sure there are a lot of local traders relying on the town keeping vibrant.”

In a statement to the Bucks Free Press, a council spokesman said: “There is a standard procedure nationally for dealing with an appeal against a penalty charge notice, which we followed and explained to Mr Bourton.

“Totteridge Road has been a pay-on-arrival car park for over two-and-a-half years (since February 2017) and the payment method is displayed on signs in the car park.”