AN Ashburton woman is seeking legal advice after receiving two parking notices while her car was parked in the old cattle market car park.

Dagmar Herkenrath, of Queen's Square, said she had a parking permit issued by the chamber of trade and a key to the site gates. No one had told her it was no longer valid.

She questioned whether Premier Park Ltd can legally enforce fines as the site has no planning permission.

The grandmother, a blue badge holder because of severe arthritis and mobility problems, refuses to pay. A debt recovery firm has threatened to take her to court.

She agreed that parking was badly needed but said many people are unhappy at the way it is being run. Her first floor living room looks straight down on the car park giving her a bird's eye view.

'Most people pay because they don't want the hassle but I feel very strongly about it. I refuse to pay even if I go to court. I will need legal aid as I'm living on benefits.'

At last week's town council meeting, a statement from Premier Park claimed it had given three months' warning before charges were introduced.

'That is such a lie because on one day there were tiny snippets of paper put behind car windscreens and if you weren't parked there that morning you had had it. The market site was transformed into a car park in a frenzy over two days, without any official signs or planning permission displayed.'

The car park gates were left open during the works and she says she witnessed Paul Parker, co-director of Dartmoor Homes Ltd which owns the site, who is also a town and borough councillor, shift up to six parked cars with a forklift truck.

She said that large potholes and the stump of a metal railing that was left sticking from one of the marked bays were hazardous. The metal stump has since been removed. She says she has overheard angry motorists complaining after finding their cars clamped at night when the car park is unlit and it is impossible to see either tariff board or pay machine.

'All this is such a shambles. Nobody cares what it looks like as long as money is coming in. Paul Parker should make sure it is run properly,' she said.

A Queen's Square resident who did

not wish to be named, said he had contacted Dartmoor National Park Authority, as nothing appears to have been done to protect a culvert from vehicle movements.

Christopher Herriott, a joiner at Barnes of Ashburton, had his motor cycle ticketed.

'Where are you supposed to put it on a motor bike? It will just get stolen or blow away.'

As luck would have it, Mr Herriott does have a valid ticket but he is waiting for the company to write before producing it.

Colin Jarvis, head of development manager at Dartmoor Park Authority, confirmed that the site has no planning permission as a car park. There is permission for 18 flats and associated parking which the applicants had indicated they hoped to start in the autumn.

When asked for their views, he said the town council was content to let the situation run as parking is so short.

Cllr Parker declined to say whether or not he had used a fork lift truck to move cars during work to turn the site into a temporary car park.

Co-director Tony Palmer accused the Mid-Devon Advertiser of going out of its way 'to cause trouble'.

'The one thing that is strangling Ashburton is the lack of car parking. I know many people who no longer come to Ashburton because parking is such a nightmare.

'As far as I am aware I have got planning on that site for parking.

'I cannot think we will resurface because sometime we are going to develop it for housing then everybody's problem with the parking will be gone,' he said.

A spokesperson for Premier Park Ltd said: '

A spokesperson for the British Parking Association said that appeals against a ticket or a clamp, should be directed to the company. Premier Park Ltd, as a BPA member, is required under a Code of Practice, to have an appeals service.

'If someone wants to raise concerns about the way a company is operating, particularly if this might be deemed to be contravening the BPA Approved Operator Scheme Code of Practice, then they should write to the BPA who will deal directly with the member to investigate and help them to comply.'