It is worth noting that if the parking enforcement company in question tries to chase your correspondent HW of St. Neots, the court will transfer the case automatically to the defendant's nearest county court if a) the case is defended, b) the claim is for a fixed amount and c) the defendant is an individual, not a company. This means that the company will incur considerable expense that it cannot recover. It must also engage a solicitor whose charge is also not recoverable in Small Claims proceedings.

It is not entitled to recover anything but the value of the damage it (or its client shopkeepers and restaurants) have suffered by the overstay - which may be nothing. It is not legally entitled to recover a penalty of any kind. In other words, these parking charge notices are a bluff. I would advise HW and others to simply ignore any correspondence from this company. Another way to frustrate them is to return all communications marked in red ink "Gone away. Not at this address.” This has worked well for me on several occasions.