Emma Riddington and Max Pegram, from Wangaratta in Victoria, were visiting friends and pub owners Maria and Andy Gooding in October last year as part of their tenth anniversary celebrations at The Black Star.
The friends met whilst watching the F1 in Singapore a few years ago with the couple wanting to surprise Maria and Andy by flying across the world to celebrate their pub milestone.
Max Pegram, Maria Gooding and Emma Riddington (Image: Handout) After being advised by their accommodation provider, the couple parked in a car park owned by Future Parking, which is located on High Street at the back of The Swan, and believed they could park for 24 hours.
The couple had a “fantastic” time over the birthday weekend, but arrived back home in Australia to find they had received a parking fine and now want to warn others who might not be familiar with the area.
Ms Riddington, who works for the local council as a cemetery administration officer, said: “We picked up our hire car from Birmingham airport and made our way to Stourport. Our accommodation provider told us that the car park on the High Street had 24-hour parking options so we decided to park there as it was near The Black Star.
“Despite advertising 24-hour parking, when we went to pay at the machine, it only gave us the option to pay for 2 hours. We don’t know the area and thought it might be a mistake and perhaps it was free within a certain window and we would only need to pay for a couple of hours and could come back to top it up or move the car.
“When I told the guests at the party where we had parked, they told us to move it straight away as people had been hit by unfair fines in the past. We moved it but when we got home, we were hit with the outrageous fine.”
The couple surprised Andy and Maria Gooding at The Black Star (Image: Handout) The couple said they have always paid their parking fees and would have been more than happy to pay the full price for 24-hour parking, but the machine did not give them the option.
Ms Riddington said she wrote to Future Parking to explain what happened, but they insisted she pay the fine or appeal.
The 52-year-old said: “The fact is we wanted to pay for 24-hour parking but couldn’t select the option. They have signs up but I couldn’t do what the sign was telling me to do.”
She has also raised concerns over the total fine which converts to almost $300 AUD with the £100 fine and the £40 hire car administration fee.
She said: “I just want to tell Future Parking that I won’t be parking with them in future and I would urge other people to be cautious when using its car parks.
“The way they’ve treated us is as if we’d been speeding, but we simply couldn’t pay for a service we wanted to use and would’ve been happy to pay the extra £3 if given the option on the machine.
“We’re not familiar with the area and I’m worried that other people visiting might also get caught out. I think the company need to make sure that its machines are working properly and giving people the parking options that are advertised.
“We really did have a lovely time in Stourport and it was fantastic to surprise our friends Maria and Andy. We said it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done. It is lovely to see the incredible community they have created at the pub.
“It is just such a shame that we have been hit with the fine. It is not the way we wanted to remember our trip and it’s been hanging over us. We feel like we’ve been treated like criminals.”
Future Parking said it could not comment on the couple’s fine.