A shopper is urging drivers to be aware of parking cameras at Tesco in Huntingdon after he was wrongly fined £70 for making two visits in one day.

Terry Scott was baffled to receive the parking charge claiming he had overstayed the three-hour parking limit at the store on Abbots Ripton Road.

The ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) camera accused Mr Scott of staying a total of four hours 16 minutes – when in fact he and his partner had made two separate trips to the store on the same day.

The cameras are installed on the main roundabout near the petrol station – but don’t clearly show the person driving the vehicle when they take a picture.

Mr Scott was lucky he had kept both receipts from the two visits to the store and has now submitted an appeal.

The cameras are managed by Horizon Parking Ltd.

“What in fact happened was my partner went shopping in the morning arriving at Tesco’s at 7.14am,” he said.

“She completed her shopping and paid at 7.54am and left the carpark at around 8.05am and drove home. Later the same morning I went shopping at the same store driving the same vehicle arriving at about 11am. I paid for my shopping at 11.26, drove out of the carpark at 11.31 and went home.

“The two-time stamped pictures they have supplied as evidence are of my partner driving to the store and me leaving.

“You can’t tell it is two different drivers because the last is taken of the rear of the vehicle.

“Without time stamped proof of your visit, till receipts, you don’t stand an earthly of proving your case.”

Mr Scott suggested that other shoppers should keep their receipts for records.

He continued: “How many people just discard their till receipts without thinking about it.

“How does a parking charge get issued in these circumstances? Is it a software problem or human error?

“When these companies make these errors, it is down to the innocent victim to prove their innocence. We are both in our seventies and have enough on our plates at the present time without this.”

A spokesperson for Horizon Parking Ltd said that although they would not be able to comment on individual matters; their appeals department would promptly look into the case “carefully”.