A GOOD Samaritan who gave a student a lift to a Bournemouth hotel was given a £75 ticket - for just pulling up on the forecourt.

Simon Lewis, 43, a dental technician from Charminster, was among a number of drivers issued with the charge from NuPark at the Lynden Court Hotel in Durley Road.

But he will not be pursued for the debt after the hotel and car park management company parted company following a dispute.

He said: "I was picking a friend up at Bournemouth Airport. She had been chatting to a foreign student coming in.

"I gave him a lift. I pulled on to the forecourt. He got the suitcases out. Two weeks later I got a ticket."

Mr Lewis appealed to NuPark to cancel the charge, only to be told it had risen to £95 during the time it was in dispute.

By the time the letter arrived declining his appeal, there were just 24 hours to make the £95 payment before, the letter stated, the charge would rise again to £115.

Andy Cottrell of NuPark said Mr Lewis' charge would not be pursued as the contract was cancelled.

NuPark had taken the electronic equipment out and was taking the dispute to court.

Pradip Patel of the Lynden Court Hotel said: "We are not going with them any more. We were getting lots of complaints from our customers.

"I am not allowed to speak a lot about this. This matter is in the court."

Ashley Miller, chairman of Bournemouth Taxi and Private Hire Joint Committee, said he was pleased the contract had been cancelled.

The association had advised around 1,200 Hackney and private hire drivers in the town to boycott the hotel after tickets were issued to cabbies.

"For a £3.50 fare we were paying £75," said Mr Miller. "Mr Patel and I became quite well acquainted!"

Mr Miller added: "They took the cameras out about three weeks ago. Now we are a lot happier. Normal service will be resumed."

NuPark also oversees the White Heather pub car park in Ferndown, where landlady Christine Shade has told the Daily Echo she is happy with the arrangement so far.

NuPark uses automatic number plate recognition cameras to capture details of cars and charges are sent out by post to anyone who does not hand a note of their registration plate number at the time they are there.