CUSTOMERS dining and drinking at a Wimborne pub have hit out after being slapped with parking fines.

Several customers at the Fox and Hounds pub in Fox Lane said they had received a penalty after parking at the pub and following the new parking system in place there.

Customer Ruth Golding said: “I received a parking ticket at the Fox and Hounds in Wimborne, despite having a booking for a meal and entering my car’s registration details into their parking system.

“When I contacted the pub about it I was told “we have had lots of complaints” and “there are glitches on the system”.

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“There was no offer of help from them to remedy the situation, I now have the hassle and stress of appealing the fine, although I have done absolutely nothing wrong.

“I have posted on the FB page “spotted Ferndown” and it seems I am not alone with this issue.

“We were a party of three and two of us have now received fines - the third person is waiting for her fine to arrive.”

Ruth posted the following on the Spotted Ferndown group: “I recently visited the Fox and Hounds pub - they now have parking restrictions in place - no problem with that - the pub explained why and I entered my cars registration on the screen.

“Two weeks later I have received a penalty notice.

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“I phoned the pub to explain I had a reservation and had entered my cars details - it seems they have had a lot of problems and glitches.

“So now it’s up to me to appeal.

“Seriously not impressed - there are lots of other pubs in Ferndown with a lot less hassle.”

Another customer commented saying: “The same. I met with a recently bereaved friend, we had lunch the same as you, entered our car reg along with assistance from one of the waitresses and this is what I received this morning, I rang the Fox and Hounds and they weren’t very helpful.”

This customer received a parking charge of £100.

A spokesperson for the Fox & Hounds said: “We recently installed a new system in our car park where customers enter their vehicle registration number on a screen when coming into the pub so they can park for free.

“Over the years we’ve seen increasing numbers of people using our car park but not the pub, which meant genuine customers were unable to park.

“We have tried to advertise this new system as clearly as possible, with 14 signs in the car park and a further four inside and our teams are also asking customers to fill in their registration number.

“We know customers appreciate being able to park more easily but if there has been an error and a customer receives a fine we can get it cancelled if they get in touch to let us know.”