A WOMAN was slapped with a £250 parking ticket for parking in a space she owns.

Paula Griffin has now been threatened with court action after refusing to pay the parking ticket she received while her car was parked in the space outside her home.

Miss Griffin, 27, was issued with the ticket while she was on holiday in Florida.

The day she returned from her two week holiday, she phoned the parking company to explain that her car had been parked in her own space, marked with the her flat number, and displaying a permit saying she is authorised to park there.

She said: "The first woman I spoke to said she was unable to see from the photo if my car had a permit and so she would have to show it to her manager and would call back.

"After a week I had not heard anything so I phoned again and had the same conversation.

"There was much confusion because the company kept sending letters to the wrong address so it took me a while to get them.

"When I eventually spoke to a manager he said I would have to pay because I had not objected to the ticket within seven days."

The company claim that the unpaid ticket has increased in price and now Miss Griffin, who works for a restoration company in Christchurch, is being asked to pay more than £250.

Miss Griffin said: "It seems a bit much because we pay £250 maintenance fee every month for them to do this."

The flats are managed by Owens and Porter.

Mr Owens, who would not give his first name, said the firm had an agreement with a parking enforcement company but had not found them to be very effective.

He said that the enforcement company was not paid by the management company but that its income comes from the fines.

When the Daily Echo contacted Southampton based AS Securi-T, which issued the ticket, the person who picked up the telephone immediately said they had no comment to make and hung up.