A motorist was left stunned after getting a car parking bill for £1.4 million, enough to park continuously for 858 years.

James Adams parked up at Edinburgh Road in Ashford town centre for his regular shopping trips last month.

He used the mobile phone app Parkmobile to pay for parking charges on three visits in July, and logged on to pay the bill at the end of the month.

But when the invoice finally arrived for July, he was surprised to count five more zeros than he expected, with an overall invoice for more £1.41 million.

The car park charges £4.50 for more than four hours of parking, which means that if he were to have the money, he could park there for 313,333 days in a row, or 858 years.

Mr Adams said: “I was quite shocked, but I knew it had been an error. I dread to think that it might have frightened the life out of some other people.

“I logged into my account to the car park and saw there were too many zeros. I spoke to the company and they said there had been a cock-up at their end and I saw the funny side of it.”

Parkmobile has apologised for the error, which should have in fact been a bill for £14.10. The company also provides the mobile charges for council run car parks such as Edinburgh Road and Dover Place, and on street parking in places such as the High Street.

This article previously stated the car park is run by NCP. We are happy to clarify this is not the case.