A pensioner says he’s lost sleep after incorrectly getting hit with parking tickets at a supermarket, and is fearful of visiting the site again.

Malcolm Stevens, 77, from Sittingbourne, has been travelling to Faversham Tesco almost every Saturday for years, but after receiving three fines in consecutive visits he is relectuant to return.

The company, APCOA, has since cancelled the tickets, but the great-grandad believes people could be put off from parking there if the problems persist.

Mr Stevens insists he followed the correct procedure for validating his parking, which APCOA disputes, but was still slapped with notices.

He told KentOnline: “When I got the first fine I was a bit worried about the way the letter was written - I thought I’d just better pay it quickly.

“I’ve lost so much sleep about it, worrying about it - it’s stupid really but there you go.

“Now I’m reluctant to go park in town in case I get a ticket - I’m of a certain age where I can do without the stress.

“I don’t know what to do. I was going to write to Tesco’s and complain but they say it’s nothing to do with them.”

Mr Stevens was fined on March 25, April 1 and April 22, having stayed at the store for less than two hours on each occasion - the maximum stay permitted by parking firm APCOA.

The first hour of parking is free, with a minimum spend in the supermarket required to validate the parking for the second hour using a code given to a customer on a store receipt.

When given a parking charge notice, the alleged offender is given 28 days to pay the fine for £35 - with the risk of it doubling if not paid within the time frame offered.

But on each occasion, Mr Stevens spent well above the minimum amount and has gone to validate the parking - even taking photographs of the process on the third occasion.

When KentOnline visited the car park, six of the seven working machines were telling the incorrect time - and Mr Stevens has questioned the reliability of the parking company’s technology.

“I was a bit concerned that I failed to validate my ticket but I’ve been coming here for a few years without any trouble,” the retiree said.

“So just to be on the safe side I took some pictures of the validation process. At each stage on the machine I took a picture.

“Yet somehow I still got another ticket. There’s got to be something wrong there somewhere - I took so much time and care to get it right.”

After complaining to APCOA, all three notices were cancelled and Mr Stevens has since visited Tesco a couple times with no issues. But he says each visit leaves him nervous about the possible consequences of parking at the supermarket.

“When they cancel the ticket they never apologise, they never give a reason - I’d like to know what’s going wrong,” Mr Stevens added.

And while he has also made use of other car parks, it can be challenging for the former shop stock controller to park further afield due to his mobility issues.

When asked what he’d like to see done to stop other people being caught out, Mr Stevens was clear that the buck stops with the parking company.

He said: “Why do APCOA keep sending parking tickets when everything is being done correctly?

“It puts people coming off. We don’t need to come over to Faversham but we just enjoy doing it.

“And I don’t want to stop coming over to Faversham, the wife and I enjoy it, but do I want the hassle of worrying about getting fined every time?”

An APCOA spokesperson insisted Mr Stevens had failed to validate his parking but says the company cancelled them “on a goodwill basis”.

“The terms and conditions of parking at this store are a 60-minute free stay period and a maximum stay of 2 hours. After 60 minutes the customer is required to validate their parking at one of the parking kiosks at the store exit, using a code printed with their till receipt.

“On each occasion that a PCN was issued to this customer, no validation of parking had been completed but the fines were withdrawn on a goodwill basis.

“The customer has validated his parking successfully at the site on many occasions prior to the first PCN.

“APCOA’s appeals process is in place to protect our customers and we are pleased that our customer services department has been able to help this gentleman.”

However, Mr Stevens says that separately a staff member in the customer services department told him that he had successfully validated the ticket on one occasion out of the three.

Tesco was approached for comment.