A man was left outraged when he had to fork up £83.50 for just a single hour of parking after a firm fined him for not buying a ticket, despite their machine being out of order.

Lenny Samms had parked up at his local Iceland when he noticed the machine was not working.

The 63-year-old from Eastbourne shrugged off, as he saw other cars which had not paid either.

Samms was only away from his car for an hour, which normally costs £1.50, so with an £85 charge, he essentially paid £83.50 more than he should have had to.

The car park where Samms had picked up the fine

The mental health support worker told the Daily Mail: "I thought, 'There's other cars here, I'll just get on with my day.'

"I didn't want to go to court and try to explain it. I didn't take a photograph of the machine saying out of order when I should have.'

"I felt sort of isolated, I'm sure that other people have gone through it but I had no support or a witness or anyone else I knew that had gone through it.

"Eastbourne is not that big and I wondered if anyone had gone through it but then you feel quite isolated really. And it's annoying really."

The parking machine outside the gates

Now, Samms has taken aim at Horizon Parking, the parking company behind his fine.

He said: "The parking companies are known to be quite greedy and misleading, aren't they? So, it's no surprise, it's all about money...

"When you work hard for your money and you've got a mortgage to pay and bills to pay and the cost of living is going up, the last thing you want is to have to find £85.

"I've seen Eastbourne changed, like most towns are getting bigger, whereas years ago, you used be able to park in town without paying.'

Horizon Parking told the Mail: "We manage the car park on behalf of the landowner to ensure that their customers are able to park and utilise the facilities as required.

"This helps prevent abuse including ensuring disabled bays are kept free for those who need them.

"There is a clearly set out appeals process which motorists can follow if they feel that they should not have received a Charge.

"We are members of the British Parking Association and adhere to the Private Parking Sector Single Code of Practice.

"Without further information such as Parking Charge reference or vehicle registration we are unable to investigate this matter or comment any further.

"If a motorist receives a Parking Charge in these circumstances it is possible to investigate any issues with the payment machines from the back-office system, however without a specific date it is not possible to do so.

"Please note that payment on arrival is required and payment at the machine would not be possible if a motorist had remained in the car park for longer than the permitted maximum stay of one hour which is why it may have appeared not to be working."