A law teacher has slammed the "cold and inhumane" actions of a bailiff firm and parking company which are threatening him with county court action over a £250 parking charge.

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Ant Mayers, 42, of Norfolk Street, Norwich, accidentally left his car in Riverside Retail Park car park over the two-and-a-half hour long limit for free parking, on December 9, 2018, while he enjoyed a Sunday breakfast and bowling game with his then six-year-old boy from 8.30am-11.30am.

The teacher at Sir John Leman High School in Beccles has accepted his mistake and was happy to pay the initial £42 Penalty Charge Notice but never received it because the initial bill was sent to a previous address on Ber Street, which he had moved out of in October 2018.

His new address was logged with the DVLA but he claims his requests to discuss paying the £42 with Highview Parking, now part of GroupNexus, which owns the car park, and DCBL enforcement and bailiff services have been ignored.

Mr Mayers said: "I didn't think anything of it until April 2019 when I received a letter from DCBL asking for £140. They said that because I failed to pay the original £42. I never had the original letter. The original charge is a fair cop. I was quite open to resolve it.

"I tried to contact Highview to say what had gone wrong but they didn't want to speak to me about it. I have constantly been trying to reason with them and DCBL. It is ridiculous because I have never seen the original letter."

He insisted the DVLA had received his change of address notice and he had arranged to get his post redirected to his new address.

"Both Highview and DCBL have failed to have a bit of common sense and reason. I don't like the cold and inhumane, just pay it attitude. If you try to reason with then they say, 'We'll go to court.'

"There is something wrong with the system," Mr Mayers added.

He believed the culture of the parking firm and debt collector amounted to bullying and its tactics would cause extra stress for many people.

But the teacher added the idea of going to county court did not stress him out adding: "I'm looking forward to it."

DCBL and GroupNexus has not responded to repeated requests for a comment.