PARKING systems at Savernake Hospital have been branded ‘inhumane’ by a mother who received a £125 parking fine she should never have had, which escalated to more than £300 and nearly forced her to go to court.

Esther Bradbury went to an evening emergency appointment in September 2016 at Savernake Hospital with her young baby and, because she visited the hospital after parking charges had ended at 5.30pm, she did not buy a ticket.

Her little girl was fine, and she returned with her partner to their home in Wilcot but months later she was alerted to a mounting parking issue.

After she had moved from London a few months before, Ms Bradbury’s details were not updated by the DVLA and she missed out on numerous warning letters about the fine.

Ms Bradbury appealed against the fine and wrote to both the parking company Civil Enforcement and Wright Hassell, the legal company representing them.

However, the appeal fell on deaf ears, and Ms Bradbury continued receiving court orders before being told she must appear before a judge.

The ticket dispute was finally resolved, over a year later, when the site facilitates manager confirmed that the incorrect fine would be dropped.

She said: “The company shouldn’t be intimidating people in this way. If it’s happening to me it will be happening to other people who are potentially much more vulnerable. People shouldn’t be scared into paying fines incorrectly.

“I just wanted to talk to a human being, to get some reply, even if it’s just to pay the original fine, the cruelty of the letters is inhumane. I want to make sure no one else suffers the same stress.”

Ms Bradbury now wants to warn others against paying incorrect fines and criticised the parking company’s ‘threatening’ behaviour.

A spokesman for Wright Hassall said: “We followed due process and our client closed the case with us on June 1, so we are unable to comment.”

A spokesman for Great Western Hospitals NHS fund said: “As soon as we were made aware of this error, the incorrect fine was quashed and no further action taken.

“We would like to apologise to Ms Bradbury for any upset this may have caused and would encourage anyone else in a similar situation to contact us as soon as possible.”