A parking company has dismissed a slew of complaints from visitors over £100 fines at a tourist hot spot in south Ceredigion after people said the machines were “not working” and that a lack of mobile signal left them unable to pay.

One Parking Solution operate the car park next to the Ship Inn at Llangrannog, and have received numerous complaints and bad online reviews after dozens of people received £100 fines for not paying for parking tickets.

The disgruntled visitors said that machines were broken and that the lack of signal in the area made it impossible to pay by phone or via a downloadable app.

Comments on Trip Advisor since June say the situation at the car park – which is run separately from the Ship Inn – is “scandalous”.

One review said: “I have been charged £100 like many others here.

“The machine was jammed, the help phone number didn’t work and it took me precisely 22 minutes from arriving at the car park to faff about trying to pay and download the Just Parking App, which I eventually did in the pub using their wifi as there is no signal."

Gavin Price, director of OPS, told the Cambrian News that he “failed to see the relevance in bad signal and not paying for parking”.

“The car park accepts numerous ways to pay including coin, app, text, telephone, and it’s clearly a Pay & Display car park,” he said.

“Drivers would be expected to arrive with a means of payment which include an adequate amount of coins.

“Unfortunately the reality is a small portion of drivers choose not to abide by the clearly displayed terms and conditions of parking.”

He added that he is “fully aware” of complaints, but said he would “like to see motorists educated further” to avoid fines.

See this week’s south papers for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition on Wednesday