"Impossible to input registration on a poorly lit parking payment machine at night"

I would like to complain about the car park company you use at this hospital (Parking Eye). They have issued me a ticket for a visit I made to South Tyneside hospital.

I am shocked that they had the cheek to issue this when I did in fact pay. I purchased a ticket for 1 hour and paid £1. 20 if I remember correctly. The problem was the system relies on the driver inputting a registration number into the machine. I attempted to do this but it was dark (19: 35 in early March). The machine has no light on it so I could not see to input the registration. I put in the money and pressed whatever buttons I could until a ticket came out. I went to the receptionist in the hospital with my ticket and explained my predicament. She advised me that this happened all of the time but that the equipment wasn’t owned by the hospital. I returned to display the ticket in my car.

The car park is pay and display. I paid and displayed. They ask for motorists to input a registration then provide equipment that can’t be operated correctly due to lack of illumination. I still paid anyway. The ANPR cameras show me arriving and leaving in the dark.

You must be aware of this problem so it is shocking that you employ a company that is callous enough to issue PCNs to people who have paid when they and you know they can’t comply. The husband of the terminally ill patient I went to visit gets around this issue by carrying a torch he has since told me.

I understand car park spaces need managing but not by apparent cowboys who prey on visitors who cannot comply with their ludicrous system.