Staff at a GP surgery have slammed a private firm for fining them thousands of pounds for parking at work.

Smart Parking Ltd, which is contracted by NHS Property Services to run the car park at Whitstable Health Centre, has come under fire on several occasions for "unfairly" handing out penalties to patients.

But now workers at the centre have revealed they too have felt the force of the company's management of the car park - receiving more than 100 "incorrectly issued" fines.

Dr John Ribchester MBE - executive and senior partner of Whitstable Medical Practice - has strongly criticised Smart Parking, saying NHS staff have been forced to spend "countless hours" fighting the fines.

He said: “Since the introduction of the ironically named ‘smart’ parking system at Whitstable Health Centre, staff and patients of Whitstable Medical Practice have faced constant difficulty and injustice.

"Despite being the principle tenant for over 40 years, this system was introduced without our agreement or consultation to address problems that simply did not exist.

“The erroneous and inflexible administration of the parking system has resulted in over 100 fines being incorrectly issued to over 30 members of practice staff, not to mention patients.

“This figure continues to rise on a weekly basis. This has caused unnecessary stress and upset to patients trying to access much needed medical care and staff trying to provide valuable NHS services to the community.

“Frequently it can take weeks or months for illegitimate fines to be cancelled, despite evidence being provided.

"In this time, repeated reminders and letters threatening debt collection action are often received.

“It is impossible for us to quantify the countless staff, GP and senior management hours that have been wasted as a result of this system.

“This is a terrible use of valuable NHS resources and we hope for immediate discontinuation or radical transformation of this flawed system.”

Mum-of-three Amie Packer - a medical reports clerk at Whitstable Health Centre - has received the highest number of fines among staff members.

The 33-year-old from Boughton says she has experienced problems with parking since being transferred to the surgery in September.

“My car registration number and name are on a ‘white list’ - which should let me park with no problems,” she explained.

“But it’s been a nightmare. The first fine I got I gave straight to the health centre and they contacted Smart Parking and had it cancelled.

“But I’ve had so many more more since then - I haven’t kept them all.

“While the company’s quite happy to keep cancelling them, they’re also happy to keep handing them out.

“The worst time was just before Christmas, when I had a letter saying I had five days to pay £2,800 in standing fines, otherwise I’d face court action.

“I only do two days a week usually, but worked overtime over Christmas and got fines on December 31, and then on January 2, 3, 4, 17 and 18.

“Last Saturday, I came home from my son’s football to five brown envelopes on my doorstep. I don’t want to deal with that.

"I just want to go to work, and come home again without that stress.

“I’m fed up with it - it’s a waste of everyone’s time. I tried to call Smart Parking about it, but was on hold for 20 minutes with nobody answering the phones.

“It’s like they send the fines out just hoping nobody will properly look into it, and they will just pay it. And some elderly or vulnerable people would.

"I've told work that if it isn't sorted out, I'll just leave... it's not worth my stress - Amie Packer

“Every time, they admit it’s their error. I’m not doing anything wrong, but I still find it stressful. I’m at the end of my tether.

"Because of the location of that surgery, you need some parking restrictions, but so people don’t just park there and go into the town, but this is not the right thing.

"I’m sure it could be managed better - they could introduce some kind of permit or token system.”

Ms Packer says she is now considering leaving her job if the issue is not resolved.

“Work has been really supportive, but I’ve asked to be moved to Estuary View,” she said.

“That’s been turned down though because the job I do needs to be here.

“I’ve told work that if it isn’t sorted out, I’ll just leave. It’s not worth my stress - I’ve got too much going on.

"I have three young boys - this is really not what I need.”

A spokesman for NHS Property Services said: “We will investigate the matter of fines being issued erroneously and work with all those involved to ensure the issue is resolved as quickly as possible.”

Smart Parking did not respond to requests for a comment.