A grandmother says she feels “browbeaten” after receiving a fine for not displaying her parking permit – even though the council failed to deliver it.

Mary Poulter, of Park Hall Road, Finchley, spent £40 on her permit in April 2014, but when it did not arrive on time, Barnet Borough Council gave her a dispensation code to display in her windscreen.

Five months later, the permit had still not arrived and she was horrified to find a parking fine for £55 stuck to her windscreen.

After appealing the charge, the authority sent her a letter refusing to cancel the charge as the dispensation code should have been updated.

However when the Times Series contacted Barnet Borough Council, it did not have record of the original letter – and claimed it had in fact sent her a letter waiving the charge.

Dr Poulter, 71, said: “I haven’t had a single letter saying they’ll waive it so I’ve got no idea where this mix-up has come from. All I have is a threatening message saying I have to pay up.

“I am so pleased it’s been dropped but it’s been a war. I feel I have been browbeaten, this has not been easy. It’s been a ridiculous fight.

“I was actually tempted to pay it and it’s not healthy to put someone through that. If someone were depressed or down in the dumps, this could push them. I feel caught out.”

Dr Poulter, a retired teacher, said she called the authority many times in the months she was waiting for her parking permit, only to be kept in a queue for “hours”.

She was eventually told by a council officer she was supposed to request a second dispensation code – something she claims she was not told.

The council finally sent two new parking permits for her silver Hyundai last month.

She added: “It was nuts. It was just ridiculous, I felt like a victim, especially since it was their fault my permit didn’t arrive in the first place.

“It was a shambles. It cost me money to appeal when I could have been doing useful things. It was impossible, I hated it.

“I’d love to know how many other people are in the position I was. It’s just not fair.”

Dr Poulter sought the help of parking expert Derek Dishman, who writes a blog under the name Mr Mustard. He said: “She’s a law abiding citizen and people shouldn’t be put through this nonsense.

"It’s an outrage that a person who is happy to pay for their permit and has paid for it, is given the stress of time wasting of having to fight off NSL.”

A Barnet Council spokeswoman said: “There was a minor technical issue which affected a small number of parking permit renewals in April when the council changed over to a new computer system.  This resulted in a handful of motorists receiving penalty charge notices whilst waiting to receive their permits, all of which have been cancelled.

"We have also cancelled Dr Poulter’s notice and would like to apologise to her and any other motorist who has received a fine in this way for any confusion caused.”