TAXI driver David Curwen is preparing to go to court to fight a £300 demand from debt collectors after he parked in a disabled bay at Savernake Hospital and failed to register his number plate at reception.

He is the latest in a line of patients and their relatives who fell foul of the requirement without knowing and were landed with parking charge notices because there were no signs in the car park.

Mr Curwen is determined to have his day in court.

“It is wrong what they are doing and it should be illegal,” he said.

He was taking a disabled passenger to her appointment at the hospital in October last year and parked in the bay while she was taken in by her daughter. The next thing he knew he had a £40 bill in the post.

“When I got the parking charge notice I went into the hospital and saw the manager there and they said there was nothing they could do about it,” he said.

Mr Curwen told the company he would not be paying because there had been no signs, but its response was to pass the bill on to a debt collection firm.

Now Mr Curwen of Goddard Road, Pewsey, has been sent a notice from Northampton County Court with a demand for £300.

He has written back to contest the claim and is prepared to risk a county court judgement and make his case directly to a judge.

“If it goes to court I’m going to fight it and claim costs and loss of earnings from the parking company,” he stated.

“If I lose the case I lose the case, but I’m certainly going to fight it all the way.

“Their argument is that the sign was in reception, but I didn’t go to reception so how was I to know.”

When he posted about it on social media he discovered other drivers who had been caught out the same way but paid up.

Signs have since been installed, but last year the Gazette featured several people who had been landed with penalties including one woman who followed all the instructions and obtained a disabled driver’s ticket but was still send a demand for £85.

A spokesman from the Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “Following similar incidents last year, we took immediate steps to improve the visibility of signs, which instruct motorists to register their vehicle’s details once inside the main building, in the car park at Savernake Hospital.

“There are now 15 signs located in around the car park - the equivalent of one per every two spaces - with further notices also on display in the main reception, café and clinical waiting areas, and we kindly ask that all visitors arriving by car spend a few seconds familiarising themselves with this information.

“We are always happy to investigate fines given in error and would encourage anyone in such a situation to contact us as soon as possible.”

Parking company Civil Enforcement has not replied to a request for a comment.