A MAN was horrified when he received a parking fine – even though the machines were broken.

Ronald Abrey parked in The Spires, in Barnet, but was unable to pay for a ticket because the machines were out of order.

The 87-year-old rang NCP, which runs the car park, and claims they told him “not to worry about it” and gave him no alternative to pay.

He left the car park and headed into the shopping centre.

But he later received a £100 fine, and has now been left furious.

The retired salesman, from East Barnet, said: “

I only wanted to do some shopping but I won’t be paying this fine.

“People shouldn’t be fined for something that isn’t their fault.

“About 15 people were there but no car park officer or worker there to help.”

An NCP spokesperson said: “We are currently investigating concerns over the last few days regarding some intermittent technical faults on one of the 5 payment machines on this car park.

“We would like to reassure all our customers that, if they feel they have been unfairly charged, they must appeal to us via the details on the back of their Parking Charge Notice and we will review the appeal.

“We sincerely apologise for the technical errors that have meant that the payment machine temporarily loses connectivity.

“We are doing all we can to make sure that this car park works smoothly for all our customers, so that they can park with full confidence that the systems are working correctly.”