A mother of a young baby has been hit with a fine after she took her daughter to a doctor’s appointment – but didn't realise she had to register her car in the car park.

Neelam Basra, 36, who is a schoolteacher, had been taking her daughter, who was two months old at the time, to an appointment at Creffield Medical Centre, in Cavalry Road, in December last year.

But Mrs Basra, who had arrived at the doctor’s surgery with her husband in their Nissan Qashqai, didn’t realise there was a new parking system in place whereby patients have to register their vehicle’s number plate upon arrival.

Weeks later Mrs Basra had a £100 fine come through her letterbox from UK Parking Management.

She appealed the fine and provided the operator with a letter from the surgery which confirmed her attendance at the appointment in December.

Mrs Basra, who is still on maternity leave following the birth of her four-month-old, said she was furious by both the fine and the car park’s ignoring of her appeal.

She said: “I’m just disgusted.

“I know the doctors and they are really good, so I don’t want to leave them [because of a parking fine].

“I’ve sent evidence to UK Parking Management, I’ve completed everything they want and they’ve just ignored it.”

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Mrs Basra said the fact that she has since been handed an additional fine of £60 added insult to injury, particularly because she was using the car park legitimately.

“The doctors have given evidence to prove that I was here for the appointment – it’s not as though we were parking our car illegally,” she added.

“This car park company is just robbing people – patients are coming to the surgery and end up getting fined £100.

“It really stresses you out, getting hit with an unfair fine – if I’m on maternity leave I can’t just afford to pay £160.

“It’s just disgusting – but I’m going to fight this.”

UK Car Parking Management, the operator which handed out the fine after Mrs Basra didn’t register her car, did not respond for comment when contacted by the Gazette.