A day trip to a South Hams family attraction turned into an expensive day out for grandparent Jill Powell after a mix-up with a parking app resulted in a non-payment fine.

Jill, of Harbertonford, took her two grandchildren to visit the Rare Breeds Farm in Totnes, using the Ring Go app to pay the £2.80 fee to park in the nearby Pavilions Car Park.

On her return she discovered she had been issued with a parking fine for £50 for failing to display a valid ticket.

It turned out Jill had, via the app, paid to use another nearby car park instead of the one she was in.

Despite contacting South Hams Council to explain the situation Jill was told she must still pay the fine.

Husband Lindsay said Jill had made a “genuine error” and the £2.80 parking fee which was debited from the couple’s account proved she was happy to pay for a ticket.

He accused the council of being “shabby” and “underhand” in its dealings over the mix-up, and called for “common sense and fairness to prevail.”

Lindsay said: “We discovered Jill had pressed the wrong button on her app and that she had paid to use another car park nearby.

“After contacting the parking team at South Hams Council she was informed this was not a valid excuse and she still has to pay.

“Obviously there was no intention of avoiding making the payment, which South Hams Council accepts, and the £2.80 fee has been debited from our account – in other words, the correct amount of money reached the council’s coffers.

“I find this a shabby and underhand way of dealing with what was a genuine error,

with no financial loss to South Hams Council.”

A district council spokesperson said Ring Go numbers are clearly displayed in car parks and the codes are not transferable.

The spokesperson explained: “The Ring Go number for each car park is displayed on the pay and display machine(s) within each car park as well as on signs scattered around the area, depending upon the size of the car park.

“When a civil enforcement officer scans the vehicles in a car park, the handheld machine sees which cars have paid by Ring Go by using the location code.

“If a different code has been input by the customer, it will not show.

“Parking session are not transferable between car parks so a ticket/Ring Go session bought for one car park cannot be used in another one.

“There are tariff board(s) in all of the pay and display car parks stating the main terms and conditions including ‘A ticket, permit or cashless session must be valid at all times’ and ‘Tickets are not transferable between vehicles or car parks’.

“If a customer feels that a PCN has been issued unfairly, they can write in and appeal.

“If it is rejected, they will need to wait for us to send the Notice to Owner to them and they can then put in a representation.

“If this is also rejected then they have the option of appealing to the independent adjudicator at the Traffic Penalty Tribunal.”