Dad-of-two dragged to court after refusing to pay parking fine for putting zero rather than an O on ticket

 James Lewis was shopping at Erith Riverside Shopping Centre car park, in South East London, when slapped with a £60 fine

James Lewis, 31, was shopping in the parking lot of Erith Riverside shopping mall in southeastern London when Jobsworths took the opportunity to slap him with a £ 60 fine.The indignant biker, who was parked for less than an hour, has since refused to pay the parking charge, but now faces a day in court.
He told The Sun Online: "I have a letter in the post about the fine, but I thought it must have been a mistake, I filed an appeal and sent a photo of my ticket.
"But since I wrote zero instead of the letter O on the machine, the parking company came back and said it was my fault.
"Since then I have been threatened with legal action and I have contacted five times in the post."The fine is probably ten times more now.
"It's annoying because I've never had anything like this before and when you see that brown envelope through the door you just think, 'oh no what is this?'
"I was just parking for free for an hour and then suddenly they told me I'd pay £ 60."
The 31-year-old HGV rider went on a shopping spree Sunday when he accidentally wrote YB09VA0 instead of YB09VAO upon entering his free parking registration plate.James had no idea that he had been fined until a charge of 60 pounds landed on his doormat a few days later.
Smart Parking Limited, the company that manages parking, refused to back down on the error - and later increased the fine to £ 160.
That's despite trying to apply a "common sense approach" when it comes to reviewing appeals.
Now defiant James has opted to go to court rather than settle the debt.
The dispute has been in progress since May 21, 2017.
Now James says he wants to prove a point to the "money hoarder" of the company.
He added: "I am ignoring it now because it simply is not worth my time.
"If it comes to that I'll go to court. I will not stand still while I whack with a £ 60 fine because of something like this."They need to have some common sense.
"It has been very frustrating for me, and I can imagine harrowing for anyone forced to pay for a small mistake.
"I am worried about the lawsuit and the fine because I have a family to support, but let's see what the court has to say."
If the ruling does not favor James, it is likely that the father of two will be forced to pay the fine, in addition to the heavy court costs.
Her fight comes after grandma Sylvia Bradford was slapped with a £ 60 fine for legally leaving her car in the same free parking lot.The 70-year-old boy made the same mistake as James when he pressed the letter O instead of a zero in the machine with pale yellow letters on a silvery background.
But after filing a complaint, Smart Parking Limited said it was sticking with its decision to issue the fine.
Sylvia plans to take her appeal to the ombudsman, which means she will face paying £ 100 if she is again rejected.
She said, "My husband blew his fuse.This really takes the biscuit.It seems ridiculous.It is common sense.The Sun Online has attempted to contact Smart Parking Limited for comment.
On its website, the firm says, "Smart Parking has gained a great deal of experience over many years of handling parking-related appeals.
"Needless to say, every appeal is evaluated individually by a trained appraiser, who will review not only the rules of the site, but will apply a common sense approach.
"If your appeal is rejected, to avoid any further action, you must pay the full NCP within 14 days."
A spokesman for the British Parking Association, of which Smart Parking is a member, said: "We would strongly recommend motorists to follow the independent appeals process instead of choosing to ignore parking fines.
"There is no cost to go to Parking on Private Land Appeal (POPLA) to help with your case.
"Bringing him to court is much more likely to happen costs