A MOTORIST who overstayed in a store's car park by 30 minutes was sent a £95 fine a week later by a private enforcement company which had obtained her home address.

Ruth Peake, 46, who had parked at Homebase, in Church Hill, Loughton, said the huge fine was disgraceful and slammed the DVLA for providing parking enforcement firm G24 with her personal details.

She said: “I've been driving since 1981 and I've never come across this behaviour in my life.

“The letter they've sent me is completely intimidatory and more than that they've gone to the DVLA to get my details. This isn't about a public highway or a local authority issue.

“I run an ophthalmologists practise and you have to be very careful before you hand on details. You have to ask the permission from the patients even for something simple. Apparently this firm can just access your details.”

Ms Peake, of the Forest, Snaresbrook, also slammed the steep cost of the fine which was sent to her in the post after she stayed in the Homebase car park, which has an hour limit, for 88 minutes while she used the store.

The letter threatens the use of a debt collection company unless payment is promptly made.

Ms Peake said: “It's disgraceful. If I've contravened parking regulations fine. Fine me a normal fee not £95. You don't get that for a speeding fine. I'm appalled and I'm going to fight it every step. They'll have to kill me to get that money.”

G24, which describe itself as a car park management business, has declined to comment on the situation.

Its website, which boasts of its use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology, states: “The driver who overstays the time allowed is issued with a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) containing details of the offence complete with a photograph of their vehicle. These details are located through the DVLA secure information service.”

A spokesman for the DVLA said: "Unauthorised parking on private land is a widespread problem and landowners would have great difficulty in enforcing their rights if motorists were simply able to ignore legitimate parking rules. So the DVLA has to strike a balance - allowing fair enforcement but protecting motorists.

"We know that is vitally important to protect people's information and that is why we introduced a whole package of measures to ensure information is not misused."

A spokesman for Homebase said the company would try to reverse any parking fine if a customer could prove they were in the store for longer than an hour.

He added: "The decision was taken earlier this year to sub-contract the management of the car park.

"It is important to note that Homebase has no control over the management policy of the car park and cannot comment or be held responsible for the issuing of parking fines."