Woman gets parking ticket from 2023 and is told it’s too late to appeal

The company says her window to appeal the ticket has passed

A mum says she was hit with £100 parking fine nearly three years on from the alleged offence – and has been told it’s ‘too late’ to appeal. Monika Wentowska got the penalty for March 2023 – in November 2025.

The 43-year-old private tutor was told it was too late to challenge the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) for returning to the Prospect Way Retail Park in Whitstable, Kent, twice within four hours – breaching a ‘no returns’ policy. Ms Wentowska, from Whitstable, said she had no idea the rules were even in place and is now terrified that more fines could be on the way after visiting countless times since.

The mum-of-one said: “I got a ‘final notice’ for an offence that, apparently, I committed in March 2023. “There’s no evidence or anything. I wrote to them, asking for more information, and they sent me a letter saying I can’t appeal because too much time has passed already.

“I was in the car park twice within one hour. I think the policy at the time was no return within [four] hours. That’s ridiculous for a place with five shops. If you forget something, you go back.”

Ms Wentowska said the infringement alleged was so long ago that she can’t recall why she went back to the shopping centre in the first place, let alone why she returned. She said she was unable to provide receipts to prove her purchases on the day for the same reason.

“I was there twice: once for 17 minutes and again for 20 minutes,” Ms Wentowska, who runs The Little Science Society tutoring company, continued. “Therefore, I breached the rule and was given a PCN. I didn’t receive it in 2023, but at the end of 2025 I received a final notice.

“I just feel like I’m being unfairly treated. The rule is ridiculous. Now, it’s a new management dealing with the old fines. I just refuse to pay it. It’s not that I don’t want to pay the fine, but this one I will not accept, because the rule is ridiculous in the first place. It’s the principal.

“If I forget something from M&S for lunch, I can’t go back? And 33 months for the fine to come through the door? It’s a joke. I couldn’t prove I was shopping because who keeps their shopping receipts from three years ago? I’m angry and anxious. I have been in and out of the area for the past three years. How many more will I get?

“Parking Eye says I can’t appeal. I wasn’t trying to exploit the car park and go to the beach or something. A £100 fine for 17 minutes and 20 minutes, three years later? Too much time has passed. My credit score could be affected. It’s absolutely unreasonable.

“When you go to Tesco or Sainsbury’s, you don’t really look at the signs. This is just trying to catch people out and it’s unfair.”

A Parkingeye spokesperson said: “Parkingeye provides car park management services at Prospect Way Retail Park. The car park features prominent and highly-visible signs throughout, providing information on how to use the car park responsibly.

“This includes guidance that the car park is for customers only and there is a maximum stay period of 3 hours, with no return within 4 hours. The motorist received a parking charge for breaking the no-return rule. The first correspondence was issued in April last year, advising on the charge with a final notice in November.

“Parkingeye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their parking charge. If anyone has mitigating circumstances, we would encourage them to highlight this by appealing.

“We granted the motorist a late appeal however they failed to provide any evidence that they were a genuine customer and the appeal was rejected. The motorist still has the right to a further appeal with POPLA, the independent Ombudsman.”