A young Newton Abbot care worker has been left reeling after parking her car in the town centre overnight cost her almost £450.
Sasha Preston, 23, left her car in Sun Court on March 7 while looking after her brother's nearby flat.
She pulled up at 9pm and in the darkness failed to see a sign erected by Exeter firm Premier Park Ltd warning that the land was private.
When her boyfriend arrived at the flat at 2.30am she noticed that the MG TF sports car was missing.
On calling the police she was told it had been towed away by Premier Park at 11.30pm.
What followed was a traumatic ten-hour ordeal during which she tried but initially failed to get through to the firm.
Eventually she was told the car was in Taunton and would be returned only after she paid a storage charge of £25, a parking charge of £100 plus a further £200 towing fee.
Her offer to collect the car and so reduce the bill was rejected. She was told to be at Sainsbury's car park at 12.30pm where the car would be returned.
Trying to sort out the mess meant the senior care assistant was unable to attend her shift at a rural care home for the elderly, bringing her total bill for the episode to £445.
She told the Advertiser: 'The sign might have been there but I didn't see it in the dark. Okay, if I parked in the wrong place I accept that and must pay the charge.
'But what makes me absolutely furious is who decides whether to clamp a car or tow it away. Why didn't they try to contact me? I'm sure they could have worked with the police to trace me.
'To charge £200 for towing is ridiculous. And why did I have to go to Sainsbury's to collect the car, why couldn't it come to my home in Abbotsbury?'
A spokesman for Premier Park Ltd said he was unable to comment on the matter as an appeal launched by Miss Preston was ongoing.
He denied the car park used was owned by Sainsbury's but was a public site and that in the past staff had been threatened by angry drivers when returning vehicles to home addresses.