Letter to the editor: I recently received a parking fine for £110 (reduced to £55 if paid within 21 days) from Bromley Council for not having a parking ticket in Orpington High Street.

I had supposedly been caught on camera. I thought it odd as I always buy a ticket, which I still had. I challenged the fine on the Bromley parking website and sent a scanned picture of the in-date and in-time parking ticket.

Because of the way the website works you have no record of the email and it does not have a system to let you know it has received the challenge.

I heard nothing until I received a charge certificate for a sum of £165. I challenged this again via the website and sent a letter asking for confirmation it had received the letter. Again nothing happened. I phoned twice to ask what was happening and both times I was told it was “being looked into”.

I have now received a letter from the council telling me it “is too late to challenge or continue challenging this parking fine”. I can either pay the £165 or it will apply to the County Court to recover the money plus costs.

I think this is highway robbery. I am not going to pay it as it is now a matter of principle, but it would be interesting to know how many others have had the same experience. It obviously works on the basis that people just give up and pay whether they are guilty or not. I am going to go down the route of the parking and traffic appeals service, but it is complicated to find out how you do it.

John Birch, Bromley