A Pin Mill pensioner has spoken of his 'surprise and anger' at getting a £70 parking ticket, despite paying almost £200 a year to use a council car park, and displaying his resident's permit.

80-year-old Simon Brown has been using the same parking spot at the car park in Pin Mill for more than 10 years, and has regularly renewed his permit but was outraged to find he had been ticketed on Friday morning.

Mr Brown told Nub News: "You can imagine my surprise and anger when I went to my car and found a parking ticket.

"We pay almost £200 per annum for the privilege, which is considerably more than either of my children pay to park outside their houses in London, one in Crouch End and the other in Blackheath - not 'poor' areas by any means.

"My anger has only increased during the day when trying to get this sorted out. Having tried the given telephone number it is clear it is only for automated payments, and my first impression of the advertised website is that there is no slot allocated for my particular circumstances. There is, apparently, no way I can get through to a person to sort out the nonsense."

Although the regulations tae the permit has to be clearly displayed, there is nothing to prevent it being it in the front or the back window of a vehicle and Mr Brown explained why he prefers to put it in the back.

He said: "It is clearly fixed inside the rear windscreen of my car and has been there for at least 10 years. I have recently taken to backing my car into the space as the hedge needs cutting, and if I drive in forwards the front windscreen gets covered in bird's mess.

"Looking at other residents' cars, some permits are on the front windscreen and some on the rear. There is no regulation stipulating which it should be to my knowledge.

By ironic coincidence Mr Brown received an invoice from Babergh on Saturday renewing his parking permit for the Pin Mill car park, and he has now been told the parking ticket was seemingly issued in error and will be revoked.

Babergh, along with other councils, introduced a new car parking enforcement policy in May, and now parking issues are dealt with by councils and not Suffolk police.

While a large part of the district is managed by parking enforcement officers from West Suffolk, the Shotley peninsula is managed by officers employed by Ipswich Borough Council and it was one of there team that issued mr Browns ticket.

There have been teething problems in various parts of the district, notably Sudbury, but Babergh officers were quick to point out this ticket was not due to the same technical issues.

A Babergh District Council spokesperson said: "We're sorry for any distress caused to Mr Brown. We are investigating further with our enforcement team, but assuming Mr Brown's parking permit is valid and was displayed correctly, the penalty will be revoked.

"This is separate to an issue we experienced in Sudbury last week. As a result of the coronavirus outbreak we accelerated plans to introduce a cashless payment system at our car parks so people can pay safely – and we know there was an initial issue at three of our car parks in Sudbury. These issues have now been resolved and any tickets issued in error cancelled.

"Anyone who feels they have been wrongly issued a ticket should use the contact details on the notice they have received to appeal."

Mr Brown has now been advised to always display the permit in the front windscreen, even if parking the other way.

Pin Mill has been a hot spot for parking issues over the years, with many people ignoring yellow lines to leave their car while visiting the beauty spot. Car parking enforcement officers will now regularly patrol the area and issue tickets where appropriate.