A CWMBRAN man is facing a court date after becoming embroiled in a city centre parking charge dispute and refusing to pay a £165 fine.

Shane Hatherall, 48, used the Clarence House car park on August 17, 2017 while attending a court hearing to support a client.

Mr Hatherall told the South Wales Argus the £2 parking fee through Parking Eye’s text service.

But, despite the fee appearing on his phone bill, Parking Eye claim they never received the payment.

A fine of £60 followed - which he refused to pay - before a whopping £165 fine landed on his doorstep.

Parking Eye have since offered to reduce this to £100, but Mr Hatherall says he should not have to pay for something that he has already paid.

“I was running slightly late and saw that the parking signage gave ways to pay," he explained.

"One of the ways was to text ‘Reg’ and the registration to 65565 and so I did this.

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“Towards the end of 2017, I then had a letter saying that I had breached the contract and owed £60. This was the first that I knew of the situation.

“I spoke with Virgin who confirmed that if it was not authorised or done correctly, it would not have appeared on my bill.”

Mr Hatherall contacted Parking Eye and explained the situation and showed them the statement and text. He also contacted Clarence House who said that at the time he was there, the payment system was down.

But he says Parking Eye also told him that there were other ways to pay and that he was not coerced into using their car park and could have parked somewhere else.

“If I had been made aware that the system was down, I would have found another way to pay," said Mr Hatherall.

“I have previously had a parking fine for overstaying in a car park and I paid it because I had been in the wrong there.”

Mr Hatherall, who works two jobs, also said that the stress of the problem has affected him over the past two years.

Every now and then it catches me and upsets me," he said.

“Sometimes I do think of giving in and just paying it but its wrong. Imagine if this was someone with cancer or a terminal illness, it is stressful and draining for me, so if it was someone else with a lot more going on in their life, I dread to think of the effect it would have on them.”

Mr Hatherall's case will be heard in Clarence House on August 27.

A spokesman for Parking Eye said that they could not comment on the case until it has been heard in court.