Two exhausted pensioners were left feeling “vulnerable” in a car park late at night after new barriers failed to let them out.

After leaving the Marlowe Theatre at 10pm on Thursday, April 22, Patricia Matfield and her husband Eric tried for an hour to work the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) system in Pound Lane.

The car park has cameras which register the details of vehicles before they enter, with motorists paying for the exact time spent there before leaving.

The pair had travelled from Deal to Canterbury to celebrate Mrs Matfield’s 70th birthday, but their cheer was soon replaced by frustration as neither of them could pay for their parking.

“Every time we entered our number plate into the machine, it didn’t recognise it,” she said. “It went on and on.

“All told, we must have tried to plug our car registration in 12 times. It just didn’t want to know. It was quite exhausting.”

The Matfields also asked several other people in the car park to try to enter their details for them, but this proved fruitless.

Desperate for help, Mrs Matfield called Canterbury police station and was given an emergency number for the council.

They finally managed to get out just after 11pm, arriving home at midnight.

“My main concern is if a foreigner, disabled person or someone who doesn’t understand technology well finds themselves in the same situation,” she said

“It was ridiculous and dangerous. I’ve got elderly friends who do not carry phones. What would they have done?’

“It could be very nerve-racking for somebody to be in that car park at that time of night on their own. There was absolutely nobody around and we were in a vulnerable position.”

Mrs Matfield believes the pay-and-display method is better suited to older people and that ANPR, which is being rolled out to 16 car parks across the district, is too complicated for many.

She was also critical of the signage in the car park, as she and her husband did not know there was an intercom.system in the machines for people to use in these situations.

Council spokesman Robert Davies said: “We’re very sorry Mrs Matfield experienced problems leaving Pound Lane car park and have been discussing this with her.

“There is an intercom system in the car park, which for people to use should they experience issues.

“This system connects to our 24/7 control room. There are also signs in the car park showing a number to call out of hours.

“We understand Mrs Matfield got through to the control room after a delay and was able to leave the car park.”

Their car had been parked in Pound Lane since 5pm and the couple paid £6.50 for their stay.