Mother fined £50 for over-running her car park time limit because she was breastfeeding her baby

A mother has hit out after she was fined £50 for over-running her car park time limit because she was breastfeeding her baby.

Anna Scriven, 28, admits she was an hour late returning to her car after leaving it outside Morrison's in Riverside Retail Park, Norwich.

She says she had been shopping in the supermarket, but then visited a branch of Mothercare on the  other side of the complex to feed and change seven-week-old daughter Mollie, taking her over the two-hour free limit.

When she received the £50 fine, Mrs Scriven explained what had happened, but parking firm ParkingEye refused to waive the fee as she had lost her receipt and could not prove she had visited the supermarket. 

'I had it in my head that the two hour time limit was to stop people using it for free all day parking,' said Mrs Scriven, who is also mother to Phoebe, four. 'I was a genuine user of the car park.

'I was genuinely using the facilities and the shops and I just so happened to go over so I thought that they would consider that but that's probably naive of me.'

Mrs Scriven, who lives in Norwich, had visited the retail park on October, and received the fine two weeks later. 

She wrote to ParkingEye to explain,and hoped bosses would understand why she had been late back to her car, and cancel the fine.

'It does take an hour to breast feed a seven-week-old sometimes. These things aren't as simple as sticking a bottle in their mouth and letting them drink for 15 minutes, it's not quite the same thing when you're breast feeding.

'That is why I went to Mothercare because they've got a room and you can sit in private and take your time over these things.'

A ParkingEye spokesman said Mrs Scriven had been unable to prove she had visited the Morrison's branch.

'The motorist submitted an appeal relating to this parking charge but did not provide any proof of purchase,' he said.

'The Mothercare visited by the motorist is not serviced by the Morrison's Norwich car park. These is clear and adequate information on 25 signs across the site detailing the terms and conditions.'