Motorists have complained after being hit with fines for using a “misleading” parking meter on a street where there is no pay-and-display parking.

A pay-and-display machine in Clyde Road has caused several unsuspecting people to receive fines of up to £110 as they presume it is for the parking bays next to it.

But these are for permit holders only, meaning people are then being given a ticket.

The nearest parking space that can be used by motorists using the machines is about 160m away – or a three-minute walk – on a completely different street.

Ex-fireman Charles Cornwell, 61, who has lived in Clyde Road for 35 years, said: “It’s the unfairness of it. It’s just a way of making revenue for the council, I think.

"It’s entrapment a lot of the time, putting a pay-and-display machine in a street where there is no pay-and-display parking.”

Mr Cornwell, who campaigned for the nurses that visited his wife in her final months to get free parking, says the Clyde Road ticket machine is redundant.

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Ray Donovan at the parking meter with his employee's ticket

He claimed the machine is just a money spinner as there has not been pay-and-display parking on the street for at least eight years.

He said: “If I’m outside cleaning the van and I see someone at the machine I always shout. I actually tell people they can’t park here. That happens three or four times a month.”

Ray Donovan, from Clyde Road, who founded the Chris Donovan Trust after his son was murdered, was forced to step in when an employee was handed a fine for parking outside his house.

He said: “It’s disgusting to be honest. It’s not fair that she is doing charity work and now she has to pay for it. We [charity workers] have all put in £11 each to pay it.”

The only available pay-and-display parking bay is at the far end of Collingwood Road, off Clyde Road, with its own ticket machine.

The Department of Transport has advised local councils to remove unnecessary street furniture that could confuse or hinder motorists and pedestrians.

Sutton Council has acknowledged the confusion and has said it is taking the machine out of use.

A spokesman for the council said: “This machine has been taken out of use as the bays in this road are resident permit holders only. Anyone who feels they have been wrongly issued a penalty notice can appeal. Details of how to do this are given with the penalty.”

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