A man has claimed he was put through one of the worst years of his life after staying just 10 minutes over his allotted time at a.

Ashley Pavett barely overstayed his 90-minute welcome at a car park outside a in Green Meadow, Pontyclun, in April 2024, a minor parking offence for which he anticipated a . And receive a fine he did, with a £60 penalty arriving in the post on April 16, five days after the infraction.

A "frustrated" Mr Pavett paid the bill by April 30, thinking the matter was sorted, and he resolved to "move on" with his life. But his troubles were just starting, and the issue with the payment quickly devolved so significantly that it has left him struggling to rent a house.

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Speaking to , Ashley explained that he was contacted by his ex-landlord in October, who informed him he had received an urgent letter in the post. On opening the letter, he found it was a new, much more costly court-ordered fine from Parking Eye, the firm that manages the Green Meadow Car Park.

The letter - which included errors and referred to Pontyclun as Pontyclundy - informed Ashley a county court had granted Parking Eye a judgement - known as a county court judgement (CCJ) - against him. These judgements are issued when a court agrees a person or firm is owed money by someone from whom they have not received a response following an initial demand.

But in Ashley's case that judgement was inaccurate, as he had paid his fine within the allotted time limit. He has been left with "all kinds of issues" nevertheless, as CCJs go on a person's record, meaning they can affect people's finances, especially if they are looking to borrow money or get credit.

Ashley said the CCJ had ordered him to pay £192, which he paid before trying to "get to the bottom" of the issue. He explained: "To start with I had no idea what it was for. I decided that I’d just pay the £192 and then try and sort it out after that and if it was a mistake I'd get a refund. So I paid it and then started contacting them to try and get to the bottom of it."

He later discovered that Parking Eye did not believe he had made the payment for the original April parking offence, as they could not find the record and issued further fines to his previous address. When he didn't respond, a court was asked to take out a CCJ against him. WalesOnline reports it has seen retrospective correspondence from Parking Eye confirming Ashley did make the payment in April.

The implications of the court-ordered fine, on top of the combined £192 and £60 payments have left him financially struggling, as he could've both lost his job and ability to rent a home. He said: "I was £252 out of pocket, which is one thing, but the worst of it was what I’ve suffered with as a result of the CCJ."

"I haven’t been able to rent a property because of it. If I wasn't honest with my employer about the CCJ and how it came about I could have ended up losing my job. My score on Experian has plummeted by around 500 points. All because of this CCJ which is for a parking fine in April which I paid for properly. I've literally done nothing wrong."

Ashley's CCJ has been set aside after he went through the British Parking Association for assistance, with its representatives able to help make his case to Parking Eye, who confirmed his April 30 payment in a letter on January 20. The letter also informed him that he would be refunded the £192 and £60 as a gesture of goodwill.

A Parking Eye spokesperson said the company still can't trace Ashley's payment. They said: “We provide car park management services at the Costa Coffee in Green Meadow. The car park features prominent and highly visible signs throughout, providing information on how to use the car park responsibly. This includes guidance on how all Costa and Green Meadow customers have a 90-minute maximum stay and there is a no return for two hours.

"The motorist received a parking charge for parking for one hour and 40 minutes. We have no record of the motorist making a successful payment of the parking charge on April 30. As the UK’s leading car park management provider, we process a significant volume of payments every year and have robust systems in place for tracking and traceability. It is also worth noting that all correspondence went to the vehicle’s registered address."