I parked in a car park in Stockport recently. I paid my £1.50 at the machine, did my shopping, and left. A week later I received a letter from the parking company stating that I now owed them a parking fine of £60 (which has now gone up to £100 since I refused to pay) because I had not entered my vehicle registration into the machine at the time of purchase. Had I known that I had to enter my registration, I clearly would have done so, but I was not aware that this was the case.

I'd never visited a car park before that asked you to do this, so I simply had no idea. Furthermore, why on Earth would the machine allow me to pay £1.50 and receive a parking ticket, if that ticket would then by invalid? Surely if it's mandatory to enter a vehicle registration at point of purchase, the machine should also make it mandatory by refusing to let you buy one if you don't enter?

I've appealed to POPLA explaining that I did in fact purchase what I thought was a valid ticket, and they rejected my appeal. What should I do now? Should I just pay up, or let it go to court? I still have the original ticket I paid for, and I just can't bring myself to pay £100 for a ticket that I clearly did purchase.