A Royton couple has vowed never to return to Elk Mill shopping park after being issued a fine for parking in a disabled space.

Martin Andrew, 54, and his wife Jackie, 56, visited the shopping park to get a meal from Subway back in June.

Recovering from surgery, Martin is a legitimate blue badge holder.

After leaving, the couple drove home without realising they had done anything wrong.

They only realised they had made a costly mistake after receiving a letter in the post saying they owed £170 as they had failed to display Martin’s blue badge.

The letter said the original amount had been £60, but as it had not been paid within 28 days, it was passed to debt collection agency Debt Recovery Plus – and the price had skyrocketed.

Martin and Jackie say they never received the original letter, only receiving a letter after the cost had increased.

Martin said: “Fair enough if we’ve got a £60 fine, we’d accept that and pay the £60.”

Jackie added: “The first letter that came through said ‘you’ve ignored us on previous occasions, so now it’s gone up to £170.’

“I rang Debt Recovery Plus. I was on the phone for more than an hour before the lady answered – she wasn’t interested.”

When contacted, Debt Recovery Plus told us they do not speak to journalists.

When asked what the company’s advice would be to Jackie and Martin, who say they had not received the original letter, the representative said: “Well, a lot of motorists do say that. But I’m sure that if it went to court, they would provide proof of postage.”

Private parking company GroupNexus manages the parking at Elk Mill.

A GroupNexus spokesperson said they would reinstate the original £60 cost, adding: “In circumstances where motorists claim they did not receive the initial penalty charge notice, we have a blanket policy with this client to reissue the penalty charge notice at the original rate.

“We are also aware that there has been and will continue to be considerable disruption to the postal services due to strike action and we are taking this into consideration for our plans moving forward.”

Asked about why Martin and Jackie were not told of this policy, the spokesperson said: “When motorists use the correct channels to challenge any penalty charge notice, we are quick to respond and let them know of any policies we have or processes they need to follow.”

Upon being told of the good news, Martin said: “What worries me is all the hundreds of people this has happened to in the past, and people who have paid it. We’re lucky enough we can afford to pay it.”

Jackie added: “It’s all the unnecessary additional stress it’s caused us, we’ve had multiple phone calls where we were put on hold for an hour at a time.

“We will not go down to Elk Mill again, and we’ve told family and friends not to go.”