6min 31 seconds - parking fine.

[Deftandglory]

I went to pick up my son from a pub in a quiet town at 9.30 pm. The town is pedestrianised so I drove into car park with 24 hour charges. Empty car park
Knew I wouldn’t be long and thought the grace period was 10mins ( it is, but for returning once paid).
Got a fine for £60 - appealed on the grace period - went to £100 and now £170 with legal fees.

Apparently it is quite likely it will go to court via a mass booking system by the solicitors. And as the grace period for buying a ticket is 5 mins I have breeched the conditions .
Court or pay up?

‘Most only charge up to 6pm’ - you’ve already said you knew it was a 24/7 car park. ‘It’s only a minute and a half’ - where do you draw the line though? 3 minutes? 10? 15? Everyone will have their own ‘it’s just..’ reason which is why they’ve capped it at 5. I’m sorry you’re frustrated, it feels unjust but it’s just a shitty thing. Pay and move on 🙌🏻

Very insightful of your attitude.
No matter your view, you were in the wrong. You ducked paying the fee to use someone's private land. And now you're pissed with them for charging you more.
You should be pissed with yourself instead.

The bit I’m pissed off with is being fined an extortionate amount for just 1 and half mins.
You could park at 6am, take the train to London, come back at 8pm and get exactly the same fine as my less than 120 seconds.

If you drive 72 mph on the motorway it’s not treated the same as driving 102.

Anyway the people that seem to understand legality have answered so I am hiding the thread now. Thanks all.

Parking fines issued by councils are, of course, the same. If you want to pay proportionate to the time you stay, you pay the parking fee. If you fail to pay the fee, you will pay a fine (strictly speaking it isn't a fine for a private car park, but...) which is independent of the length of stay. It is not some kind of parking charge. It is meant to be a deterrent to stop people from breaking the rules.

You aren't seeing the point that everyone is saying here. Its not 1.5 minutes. It's the whole time you were there. It's the rules of a private landowner who's land you chose to stop in. You should have checked and paid. There is nothing to argue back. Yes its a lot of money but its gone up because of your choice to stop there, your choice not to pay in the first instance and now court pending.

You have been charged because you didn’t pay anything. As someone has already said, you’d have been charged the same if you hadn’t paid for 24 hours. It’s not pro rata. Similar to speeding fines. If you’re caught doing 31 in a 30 mph zone you’ll be fined the same as someone doing 40.