My wife and I have returned to Australia following a holiday to England and a four-nights stay in the Lake District. On one occasion we parked our rental car at a pay and display car park in Glebe Road, Bowness.

I paid £4 by credit card at one of the machines and it gave me a ticket, which I displayed on the windscreen. When we returned to the car a Penalty Charge Notice showed we had been fined £50 for not displaying a valid pay and display ticket.

When we looked closer at the ticket it was endorsed 'Voucher for Cruises, not valid for parking'. This didn't make any sense to me as the machine gave me the ticket I had displayed and nothing else. I went back to the machine and noticed at the very top of the machine there was a copy of a Parking Ticket and a copy of a Voucher for Cruises and a note saying a penalty charge notice may be issued for displaying the wrong ticket.

I hadn't noticed this when I made payment and simply followed the instructions on how to pay by credit card. These instructions say nothing about different types of tickets but do state 'take ticket and display on dashboard'.

I challenged this parking notice online at www.southlakeland.gov.uk and received a reply saying there were no grounds for cancellation as 'a valid pay and display ticket was not clearly visible'. It added that when you purchase a ticket, a ticket and voucher are produced partially attached and the motorist has to separate them. What the council failed to consider was the possibility that in my case the machine malfunctioned and issued the voucher only.

I went back to this car park - as I am like a dog with a bone if I think I have been wronged - to watch the operation of the ticket machine and while on most occasions it issued a ticket and a voucher twice it issued a single piece of paper only. I walked around the car park which was close to full and found more than 12 cars displaying the so-called Cruise Voucher only.

To my mind there is something seriously wrong here and it is hard to believe all these motorists who parked their cars within a few hours of each other all made the same mistake of separating a ticket from a voucher and then displayed the voucher by mistake, making them liable for a parking fine. Although the voucher isn't valid for parking it does show a fee has been paid and also shows the paid until time and date. If the council was to fine these motorists at £50 each they would potentially receive £750 in extra revenue.

I emailed the council's Chief Executive and got a reply from a parking services officer dismissing the concerns as he had 'looked at the transaction report and all is as it should be'. 'There were no machine faults reported that day'.

This practice must result in a large amount of extra revenue each year for the council. I think it is serious enough to be independently investigated.

The Lakes are beautiful and it would be a shame if visitors stay away because they feel ripped off.

Peter Coates

Victoria, Australia