A £100 fine was what awaited one Teignbridge retail park shopper for leaving their vehicle and daring to walk across the road to another retail park.

They’re now warning others not to make the same mistake. Dan Bromfield, who lives in Heathfield, was atonished to learn of his wife being issued with a £100 parking ticket for leaving her car in Newton Road Retail Park and walking a short distance to the neighbouring retail park in Kingsteignton.

And in spite of picking up a couple of bits, Christmas bits as it goes, from one of the shops, Matalan, in the first retail park, Dan’s wife still received a ticket for leaving her vehicle and visiting some of the shops in Kingsteignton Retail Park just up the road.

‘There was a picture of the car online and a message saying that the vehicle was left unattended while the owner vacated to another store’ Dan said.

‘My wife was really upset, but I said, look, let’s just pay it and try and forget about because otherwise it will eat you up.

‘She left the car and walked across to Home Bargains as a pedestrian, leaving the car. She was gone for approximately 40 minutes and when she came back she had a £100 fine.’

Dan’s wife then spent the best part of half an hour walking around the car park trying to find whoever had issued the fine but could not find anyone, before warning several other families who were doing the same as her, not to do it.

More than a dozen other vehicles had also been issued with tickets forpresumably, the same reasons: parking in Newton Road Retail Park and then leaving on foot to someplace elsewhere.

The initial figure of £100 was reduced to £60, a sizeable amount to be sure, and not one which anyone would want to pay if it could be avoided, as the couple paid the fine within 14 days.

Dan said: ‘Be aware, and don’t leave your car unattended if you are going to go another shop.

‘You have just got to get in it and drive across the road and try and park there.

‘It is usually chaos in the Home Bargains car park anyway and this is why my wife doesn’t park there and got penalised for it unfortuanetly.

‘If it saves one person then that’s a plus.’

The car park at Newton Road Retail Park is run by UK Parking Control LTD.

‘We pride ourselves to alleviate your parking difficulties’ it reads on the company’s website.

The Mid-Devon Advertiser contacted UK Parking Control LTD but no response was forthcoming.