A KentOnline investigation can today reveal major problems surrounding parking at the county’s country parks.

Shock figures show that almost £20,000 has been made by Euro Car Parks in the past year from ‘major keying errors’ - where the company accepts people have paid for a ticket but claim the registration plate has been entered incorrectly.

My findings show 994 people paid for a ticket in good faith but were fined, and when they appealed, they were offered the chance to pay a £20 administration fee instead of a £60 fine.

Almost one in five (17%) paid the fee on top of the money already spent on the original parking ticket.

The details come from a Freedom of Information request I submitted to Kent County Council, which reveals a host of parking-related data for the year up to January 2.

My latest investigation is prompted by a series of calls and emails from upset readers who tell me it’s not them making these so-called ‘major keying’ mistakes.

A host of park users say the machine issues a ticket halfway through inputting their registration number, or that the keypad is overly sensitive, keying in additional unwanted letters or numbers.

Despite this, the car park management company, Euro Car Parks, and the park-owner, KCC, claim there are “no ongoing faults” with its machines and that they are regularly checked.

But I can reveal around 25% of all park users have appealed their tickets in the last year – that’s 2,506 people believing they should not have been fined.

At some green spaces, like Lullingstone Country Park, it’s as many as 35% of all people who are appealing their penalty notice, while 39% don’t pay their ticket at all.

One of those impacted is Ben Romney and his wife Kathryn who visited Lullingstone with their daughter and dog in July and paid £3.50 to park.

Halfway through typing in the registration, a ticket printed, and payment was taken, but while Kathryn thought this was odd, she placed it in the car and thought nothing of it until she received a penalty notice two weeks later.

She kept the ticket and appealed directly with Euro Car Parks, but when it was rejected she was accused of making a ‘major keying’ error and was given the option to pay a £20 administration fee.

Communications consultant Ben said: “Who puts in half a registration and then presses print? It’s unheard of.”

The dad-of-two was “outraged” by this and decided to go through the independent appeals service, POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals).

It provided evidence which showed on the day they visited the park there were seven instances where registration numbers were allegedly not keyed correctly.

Despite this, the couple lost the appeal but are refusing to pay, and the fine has now gone up to £140 with letters from Debt Recovery Plus too.

Ben, 43, said: “It’s been very annoying and quite distressing.

“It’s so insulting to basically say, you’re a moron and you don’t know how to use a very basic car registration machine.

‘I would rather go to prison than pay the £140 we are being pursued for – it is so morally wrong.”

Now, I can reveal the council-owned venue with the highest number of ‘major keying errors’ is Lullingstone Country Park, where 295 people paid a £20 fine for allegedly mistyping their registration number – that’s £5,900 collected that year from one park alone.

Stepping away from the major keying errors and looking solely at the appeal rate, again Lullingstone takes the top spot with 35% appealing their penalty notice.

Close behind is Brockhill Country Park, with 31% of people appealing their parking ticket (149) and 44% of all tickets from here yet to be paid.

One resident caught out at there is Folkestone resident Sarah Booth who is being chased by debt collectors after refusing to pay for a parking penalty notice she received on a visit there on July 26.

She said: “I was really surprised to find a parking ticket from them with a picture showing me going in and coming out. With the reason being that I hadn’t purchased a ticket.

“I thought, that’s ridiculous so I sent them a copy of my bank statement and pictures of the ticket which came out of the machine and thought nothing more of it.

“You can’t get any more concrete than a bank statement and a physical ticket in your hand.”

But after appealing the ticket, Sarah told me she was “absolutely furious” after she was accused of making a “major keying error”.

The 59-year-old full-time carer said: “I recall the machine display seemed to flash information when I wasn’t expecting it to, but it all seemed too quick but then produced a parking ticket which I took as acceptance of the information I gave and confirmation when my payment was accepted.”

Tales like this exist across several of the nine country parks owned by the county council, and each time the user cites problems with the ticket machine but has proof of payment.

In another part of the county, Emma Papworth, from Higham, told me she received a penalty notice after visiting Shorne Woods Country Park on September 22.

When her partner typed in the number plate, the screen went black, and the ticket printed with just the first letter.

The 35-year-old said: “He didn’t think it was an issue as he typed the whole number plate in. We then received the fine from Euro Car Parks a couple of weeks later.”

Now, the sentiment from all these users stung by a ‘major-keying error’ is that it is putting them off visiting Kent’s beautiful country parks.

Emma added: “This is all bringing Shorne Woods Country Park’s name into disrepute.”

And Emma and her partner are not alone, some 2,113 parking tickets have been issued there in the last year and new data reveals that 43% of these tickets remain outstanding, while 221 have been paid at a reduced rate of £20 after being accused of making a registration mistake.

I contacted KCC to find out what is going on and a spokesperson said: “If a customer inputs the correct registration number at the machine, it will correspond with the number plate captured on the ANPR meaning a penalty charge notice (PCN) will not be issued.

“We have had no ongoing faults with any keypads on the machines at our country park car parks, which are checked every morning and evening.”

They added: “If a customer makes a mistake when keying in their details they should, at the time of the mistake, speak to a country parks officer if one is available who will be able to help them if they can show proof of purchase, this could be in an office or at the visitor centre front desks during opening hours.

“Alternatively, they could contact the parks by phone through the number published on the site noticeboard during office hours or leave a message if out of hours to be picked up the following day.”

Although the council has said regular checks are being made on the machines, I wanted to know what the checking procedure entails and whether the country parks officer is using the machine as a customer would, by attempting to buy a ticket to identify flaws in the purchasing process.

The council added: “After 23.59 on the day of the error a PCN will automatically be generated if a match cannot be made by the camera system. This may result in a PCN being issued.

“A successful appeal for a mis-key after a PCN has been issued may lead to the charge being reduced to an administration fee.”

I am yet to receive any response from Euro Car Parks despite repeated attempts to make contact.

However, its website says it has an “enviable track record for exceptional customer service” and is “the most experienced car parking management company in the UK”.

In total, £19,800 has been collected from country-park users, because the county council and Euro Car Parks allege a major-keying error has taken place.

I would rather go to prison than pay the £140 we are being pursued for – it is so morally wrong

Someone else who has been caught up in this situation is my colleague Sean Delaney, a KentOnline news editor.

He told me he experienced a “keying error” while attempting to pay for parking himself at Lullingstone Country Park.

He explained: “I'd taken the dog over there for a walk midweek when it was quiet and went to pay for parking as I always do via the signposted mobile phone app.

“The only issue was there was no signal whatsoever so after several failed attempts I went to pay at the machine.

“I inserted the necessary funds and must have got about halfway through keying in my car registration when the display blanked out.

“Unsure whether it had registered me typing out the last digits of my number plate I hit finish but when the receipt came out my full registration was not showing.

“Fortunately it was not busy at the time so I was able to pop to reception where a very helpful lady took a note of my registration and proof of payment to ensure I didn't get a fine.

“But I can definitely see how some have been less fortunate, and the online Tripadvisor reviews are testament to this.”

I asked the council and company for their explanation behind the volume of visitors making these ‘errors’.

Surely, it can’t be the case this many people can’t use the machines? Either way, I believe a review into whether the equipment is fit-for-purpose should be undertaken - if only to build back some trust with the county’s country park users.

I’ll let you know once I know more…

Have you got a consumer issue or problem that needs highlighting? Not sure on your rights? Contact reporter Elli Hodgson on ehodgson@thekmgroup.co.uk