A MUM of two has become the latest victim of the council's automated parking service after traders last month said they were losing customers as a result.

Sue Whitehead, 41, of Wanstead Park Avenue, visited High Street in Wanstead on October 19 and parked her car in Grove Park car park at around 10.30am.

But the machines in the car park were out of order, leaving her and other shoppers frustrated they couldn't pay to park their cars with coins.

A sign on the side of the machines directs motorists to pay by credit card over the phone using the parking service RinGo, but Mrs Whitehead claims the sign isn't clear enough and has caught many people out.

She said: "The car park is not quite pay and display any more.

"I just think how can I come to Wanstead? I love that high street, but I can't risk another ticket and I can't park in the side streets because it is all controlled parking.

"I think it is a real shame for the traders, they need all the help they can get.

"I think it is just appalling the way the council treats shoppers like this."

Mrs Whitehead has entered a Freedom of Information request to find out how many shoppers were ticketed on the morning she was.

She added: "A minimum of six of us were caught out that morning, but I believe it could run into the double figures. It is just appalling the way they keep slapping on tickets like this.

"Until the council sorts out this parking fiasco I won't be going back unless I walk or cycle."

Despite leaving a note on her dashboard explaining the situation Mrs Whitehead was fined £30, which she paid this morning.

Last month Sam Boyce of the Wanstead Beauty Clinic in the High Street claimed the machines in the car park was deterring her customers from visiting.

While, Wendy Brooks of Elaine Atkins Physiotherapy in High Road, South Woodford said the machine in nearby Derby Road car park only worked intermittently.

Redbridge Council has been asked to comment.