Angry park-goers being chased by debt collectors despite providing proof they have paid for parking have called the move “scandalous”.

Some visitors to Lullingstone Country Park in Eynsford and Shorne Woods Country Park near Gravesend are calling for Kent County Council (KCC), which owns them, to reconsider its contract with Euro Car Parks, which manages the parking.

It comes after data revealed more than 50% of parking fines are being appealed at two of the council-owned green spaces.

Several claim they have been wrongly fined for carrying out a “major keying error” despite successfully paying and being issued a ticket.

As part of their claims, some drivers say the ticket machines were exhibiting problems on the day they visited.

But KCC claims it has “no ongoing faults” with any keypads on its machines and says while it takes a cut of the income from parking enforcement, it reinvests it into the upkeep of its country park car parks.

In August, Tom Green revealed he was being chased by debt collectors despite providing proof of payment of his visit to Lullingstone Country Park, near Eynsford, in February.

Following several unsuccessful appeals, his fine increased to £140 and he was sent three letters from Debt Recovery Plus threatening court action.

While the company accepted Tom had paid, it reduced the fine to a £20 administration fee insisting he had made a “major keying” error.

The 46-year-old denied this and said the machine was problematic and while the screen went blank, it had still allowed him to pay and issued a ticket.

He called the administration fee an “equally outrageous” charge and resisted paying it.

The dad-of-two said: “Why would I need to pay the administration fee when they’ve acknowledged that I paid?

“I’ve found myself thinking ‘let’s get this out the way and pay it’, but I don’t think it’s fair when I’ve done nothing wrong.”

The data - covering the period from August 29, 2023, to August 29, 2024 - shows that 10,361 fines were issued in that one year across the nine council-owned country parks, with 3,924 people appealing in total.

Problematic hotspots include Lullingstone Country Park where 1,822 parking fines were issued, with just under 50% (904 people) appealing their ticket.

Meanwhile, at Shorne Woods Country Park near Gravesend, 2,176 tickets were given with 900 people appealing – that’s 40%.

As a result, 862 tickets issued at Shorne Woods and 668 from Lullingstone remain unpaid and are outstanding.

Paul Webster, from Swanley, visited Shorne Woods for a fun-run on July 27 and paid £4 for the day.

At the time of payment, he said the machine let him pay and printed a ticket but a week later he was sent a fine.

Despite appealing the letter with proof of payment, the company said he had made a “major keying” error and would need to pay a £20 administration fee.

The 50-year-old, who works as a tax adviser, said: “When you’ve been issued with a ticket you automatically assume it’s done, you’ve paid for it and you don’t expect there is going to be a problem.

“I think the machine is not working correctly and is not fit-for-purpose. It might work the majority of the time but there are certain circumstances where it doesn’t allow you to complete the keying or there is some issue.

“It’s a money-making thing that has gone too far.

“It’s disgraceful and it’s scandalous – I have already legally paid the charge.”

As part of his appeal, Paul asked Euro Car Parks for evidence of what he had keyed into the system as part of the alleged “keying error” because the company did not initially provide this.

After contacting his MP - Laura Trott (Con), who represents Sevenoaks and Swanley - she contacted Euro Car Parks, who told her that Paul had not keyed in his full registration and had only typed ‘F’ which resulted “in the inability to locate the payment”, adding that the parking charge was issued “correctly”.

Eventually, Paul felt compelled to pay for the ticket because he was receiving “threatening letters”.

He denies miskeying his registration and says there were problems with the machine on the day.

He said: “The system needs to be fault-proof; it needs to be a system where people are not going to be tripped up by issues with the machine.”

One person refusing to pay the penalty fine is Katie McCabe who visited Lullingstone Country Park on March 31.

On the day of her visit, she remembers waiting in a queue as people struggled to work the ticket machine and says lots of people were looking confused.

When it came to her turn to buy a ticket, she said the machine was slow but she managed to buy one.

Not long after, she received a fine and despite appealing, Katie was met with the same response from Euro Car Parks who said she had made a “major keying error”.

But Katie, from West Malling, says she was sure she had been “very careful” and asked the company to prove what she had keyed into the machine. The evidence was not provided.

She said: “It’s a terrible state of affairs – people need these country parks but the stress has put me off going back to that park ever again.

“They are horrible letters to receive because it makes you feel like you’ve done something wrong - I want them to try to rectify this problem.

“I’m not paying the debt collectors – if they want to take me to court they can.”

Katie is still receiving letters from the debt collectors to this day.

Further data from the FOI reveals that 799 of the 10,361 total fines issued this past year were cancelled, with 3,660 fines still outstanding which haven’t been paid.

At Brockhill Country Park in Hythe, although only 559 tickets were issued in the one-year period, 56% of them were appealed, 64 cancelled, with 202 still outstanding.

In response, both Katie and Paul want the council to investigate the issue with the machines.

Paul added: “Under no circumstances should any member of the public be paying a fine when they can demonstrate that payment was made.”

A KCC 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 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.

“We want everyone to be able to enjoy the county’s much-loved country parks.

“KCC receives a percentage of the income from parking enforcement, which is reinvested into the upkeep of our country park car parks.

“Every complaint we receive is thoroughly investigated and any faults identified with the pay and display machines are quickly remedied.”

The council’s contract with Euro Car Parks is for three years.

Euro Car Parks, Laura Trott and the country parks’ warden were also contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of writing.