This is a reader's letter sent in to the Oxford Mail. 

PCOA are fining us £55 for failing to pay for parking at the Oxford Parkway station.

I am willing to pay for the parking, and was so at the time, but was unable to do so.

We arrived early in the morning on Sunday April 30.

READ MORE: Road and footpath near railway station closed 

The exterior payment machines were not working and the station building was locked tight.

I called the number on the APCOA sign and a voice message said that that number was no longer a route to paying and that I should download an app.

However I did not have access to the internet, nor time to download an app before my train was due.

There is nowhere else to park nearby, nor did we have time to find anywhere else.

The side gate to the station enabled passengers to access the platforms without passing through any gates.

There did not appear to be an obvious way to pay when we returned late that night.

APCOA have fined me and I responded with this information but they have dismissed it, raised the fine to £85, and suggested I go to another company to appeal.

This will take several weeks.

This seems to me to be unreasonable, and assumes that people have access to the internet at all times to cover the failure of any immediate payment methods.

And it assumes that making payments by phone is a secure option.

We know that we are not the only people to have been caught this way, and we also have several well-functioning adult friends who do not have smart phones.

John Mason, Oxford

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