I was fined £100 for parking at 2am – but my mobility scooter was locked up 112 MILES away
A PENSIONER has been ordered to pay £100 for parking illegally - but the charge relates to his mobility scooter which was 112 miles away at the time.
Retired police officer Vivian Double received the hefty fine from UK Car Park Management in the post - with photographic evidence of a white Peugeot van in Wembley, north west London.
But the vehicle's number plate is almost identical to the one registered to the ex-cop's black mobility scooter, which was locked up at his home in Poole, Dorset.
And Viv, who lives with his partner, was fast asleep in bed as it was 2.21am.
Viv said: "It’s clearly a mistake, but when I first got the fine it did make me think, 'was I there'?
"But no – obviously I wasn’t – I’m hardly going to be travelling on my scooter down the motorway to Wembley.
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"It would take me several battery charges and many days to travel to do that.
"And at 2.21 in the morning there's only one place I'll be.
"I think the people at the parking company should go to Specsavers."
Viv was slapped with the penalty because the vehicle was not registered.
But bumbling attendants failed to read the plate properly and mistook an M for an H.
It led them to think Viv's scooter, which can reach speeds of just 8mph, was the offending motor.
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The £100 fine can be reduced to £60 if cleared quickly.
However, it could shoot up to £160 if left unpaid.
Former Met Police officer Viv has since been in contact with UK CPM representatives, who told him they have opened an investigation in to the February 24 fine.
But this could take up to 35 days, so the pensioner has been left in the lurch.
"I’m obviously not going to pay it and I'm hoping they will see their mistake and life will go on," he added.
"I guess there is someone out there driving around illegally with my number plate.
"But there’s not much I can do about that – it’s for the police to catch him."
Viv, who uses his scooter after suffering a pelvis injury while working for the police in the 1960s, said he also believes the fine is not backed by criminal law as the apparent offence took place on private land.
He reckons under the latest regulations, the maximum fine allowed is £50, not £100.
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The Sun has made repeated attempts to contact UK CPM for comment.
The firm has a rating of just 1.2 out of five on Google.
