Driver Fined £110 After Paying for Parking Using Wrong RingGo Code

Bournemouth Driver Hit With £110 Fine After Parking App Mistake

Driver Fined £110 After Paying for Parking Using Wrong RingGo Code A Bournemouth driver has been issued a £110 Penalty Charge Notice after paying for her parking through the RingGo app but entering the code for a neighbouring car park. Lauri Scott Cox, 56, from Westbourne, said she paid £3.80 for an hour's parking in Bournemouth town centre on 22 August before returning to find a PCN on her windscreen. She later discovered that she had entered the location code for a nearby car park rather than the one where her vehicle was parked. Driver says she had already paid Lauri said the interconnected car parks charged the same amount and were operated through the same RingGo app, which left her frustrated after her appeal was rejected by BCP Council. She said she had not attempted to avoid paying and had evidence showing that a valid parking session covered the time her vehicle was parked. According to Lauri, she used the first parking code she saw after leaving her vehicle and later found that it related to a neighbouring location. She also raised concerns about the signage and said vegetation around the site made some information difficult to read at the time. Lauri said additional signs had since been installed and vegetation had been cut back around the car parks. She has described the £110 penalty as disproportionate because the council still received payment for the parking session. The case also highlights a common issue for motorists using parking apps: paying for parking does not necessarily mean a session is valid if the wrong location or car park code has been selected. BCP Council explains the parking rules BCP Council said each of its car parks has its own RingGo location code and that parking sessions are not transferable between different locations, even where car parks are next to each other or have the same tariff. Councillor Richard Herrett said motorists are responsible for making sure they purchase a valid parking session for the specific car park where they are parked. The council also said it does not comment on individual PCNs but confirmed that motorists unhappy with a parking enforcement decision can use the appeals process, including the right to appeal to the independent Traffic Penalty Tribunal. For drivers, the incident is a useful reminder to check the exact location code shown for the car park before confirming a parking session in an app. Taking a quick photo of the parking sign and location code can also provide useful evidence of what information was displayed when a parking session was purchased. EveryonesParking can help drivers plan parking before arriving, particularly when visiting unfamiliar areas where several car parks or parking zones are located close together. The Bournemouth case shows why drivers should not simply assume that neighbouring car parks share the same app code, even when they have the same tariff or appear to form part of the same parking area. BCP Council said it keeps its signage under review to help ensure parking information is as clear as possible for motorists. For anyone using app-based parking, checking the location, tariff, vehicle registration and length of stay before completing the payment could help prevent an avoidable parking dispute.