A MARKS & Spencer shopper has stopped the rot after she successfully appealed against a parking fine at a notorious Trowbridge car park where hundreds of locals have been fined.

Helen Robinson-Gordon, of The Stocks, Seend, was livid after receiving a £48 fine when she parked at the foodhall car park in the Cradle Bridge Retail Park not long after the store opened in July.

She and many others have fallen foul of store’s parking system, which is managed by Smart Parking, which gives shoppers three hours of free parking, so long as they enter their vehicle registration number into a machine and display a ticket in their car.

However Mrs Robinson-Gordon had her appeal against her £48 fine upheld after she successfully argued that the signage was not clear and the terms and conditions sign could not easily be found, as it is by the Odeon cinema.

“I was so cross when I received the ticket. It was not the fee, it was a matter of principle, so I am happy it was overturned,” she said.

“Smart Parking, in their defence, stated that, ‘There are numerous signs located around the site that inform motorists of the advertised terms and conditions.’ I was able to find only one such sign.

“This was posted about two feet off the ground, nowhere near either the car park entrance or the ticket machine and it was also located by a car parking space.

“I have heard that many others have been fined which is not good at all. Nobody goes in looking for fines. I have never seen a system like this and I think that is why so many are being caught out. If you see a sign saying, ‘Three hours free parking’, you do not look for the terms and conditions. The principle is all wrong.”