A HAMPSHIRE police officer hit with £120 in parking charges has told a car park company: "I'm not paying."

Joseph Etele, a 999 response officer, was hit with parking charges after parking at a health centre.

The 43-year-old said he twice had problems trying to register vehicles using a tablet when parking.

But after being hit with the charges he told car park operator Smart Parking that they are exploiting vulnerable people.

He said: "The first time I tried their tablet it wouldn’t work for me at all – I asked the receptionist and he said don’t worry about it.

"A couple of weeks later I went in again in another vehicle – I tried both tablets on that occasion and couldn’t get it to work.

"The last thing I’ve done is written to Smart Parking, referenced the ticket and I said I’m not vulnerable, you’re picking on vulnerable people, I’m not paying you and I’ve left it at that.

"It’s not like I’m trying to get out of a fee, it’s free parking, I was there for a medical appointment.

"I’ve got the notice – the main bit says “you must pay this” in large letters then there’s an image and then the text underneath it which explains what’s going on is so hard to read which is obviously done on purpose – I can’t read it with my glasses on.

"I’m a police officer so I’m not intimidated by their tactics or anything, the worst case scenario is that they’ll take me to court.

"I think they’re basically authorised criminals in my opinion, they’re praying on vulnerable people who get scared by these notices.

"I’ve done what I’ve done and I’ll wait and see what happens but I’m not going to allow them to intimidate me or bully me into paying something that really isn’t fair."

Joseph, from Hambledon, had first parked at Havant Health Centre for a medical appointment and assumed it would be free of charge.

If he does not pay the charges will rise to £100 each.

A Smart Parking spokesperson said: "There is very limited parking at the Havant Health Centre so Smart Parking was brought in to manage its car park to make sure patients can always find somewhere to park.

"To ensure patients are not charged for parking, all patients are asked to register their cars onto a tablet at the front desk of the health centre.

"This procedure is clearly highlighted across numerous signs both in the car park and the health centre itself."

"In the case of Mr Etele, he parked without registering his car twice, so correctly received two charges.

"For context, on both days he received a charge, well over a hundred patients parked and registered without any issues."