DWYFOR Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts (pictured) has vowed to tackle parking regulators who are targeting residents and visitors in her constituency.

Mrs Saville Roberts’ calls come after Viv Williams, of Flintshire, contacted her after she was slapped with a £50 fine for parking in the Home Bargains car park, in Pwllheli, during the evening whilst she attended a concert at Capel y Drindod nearby.

Viv, who said she has parked in the car park on several occasions previously and not been fined, said she was shocked to receive a "threatening" letter from Parking Eye Ltd which informed her she had received the fine.

She said: “To be honest I never saw any signs to pay for a ticket, we just assumed it was ok to park there as we have done before, the store was closed and there were quite a lot of other cars parked there.

“However a few days later I received the dreaded letter which had a very aggressive tone and informed me they will pursue me if I don’t pay the £85 fine, which would be reduced to £50 if we pay in 28 days.

“I absolutely love Pwllheli but I am concerned that a town which is a tourist destination area is actually letting these cowboys loose on the local population and the visitors. It will put people off visiting the town.

“I understand the store wants to protect its car park for customers, but the place was closed so there was no loss of income for them.

“I found the letter from ParkingEye very unpleasant; it’s their threats and the exorbitant charges that really worry me.”

Mrs Saville Roberts said she was pursuing the issue with both ParkingEye Ltd and Home Bargains.

She said: “Whilst I appreciate that retail stores need to guard against misuse of their dedicated parking, it is incomprehensible that people are penalised for parking in a safe and sensible location when the store is closed, and, indeed, outside the busy visitor season.

“Such a heavy-handed approach is counterproductive; we need to be encouraging people to our town centres to boost our economies.

“What may be deemed as appropriate measures in a busy, urban environment cannot be applied to rural areas. A certain amount of fairness and proportionality is required.

“Large retail chains should be mindful of the impact these parking fines are having on the public or risk jeopardising the good will of customers on whose custom they will be dependent in the winter months.”