An 'aggressive' private parking company 'hounded' a family for years to recover money for apparently overstaying in Maritime Car Park.

Simon Witney says that Premier Park has used "strong arm tactics" to pressure him into paying the fine, which has escalated from the £40 first issued in August 2015 to more than £260 today.

He said: "It's just been a process of hounding and aggression and threats and it's just unpleasant."

Simon's wife had brought their daughter to Falmouth from their home in Northampton for a tour of the university in 2015.

She paid for a one hour ticket at Maritime Car Park before realising they needed more time buying another, according to Simon.

They left the car park without overstaying, he says, and after returning home were sent a penalty charge notice.

Simon's daughter ended up moving to Falmouth to study and is due to graduate this summer.

Meanwhile, her dad has been having a back-and-forth with the company over the last three years that included an unsuccessful appeal with independent service Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA).

He said: "Her entire university career will be bookmarked by this."

Copies of the parking tickets he claims his wife bought were not kept. He said: "My wife usually keeps them in the car but on this occasion didn't."

Simon says that Premier Park's system does not allow people to defend themselves against claims of overstaying.

The company responded in a statement saying that the driver of the car overstayed the paid for time by 28 minutes.

They did not address Simon's accusations of harassment or unfairness.

The spokesperson said: "A PCN 430820 was issued to Mr Witney’s vehicle for overstaying the 2 hours paid for by 28 minutes. We subsequentially [sic] received an appeal from Mr Witney, in which he stated he had paid for two parking tickets although these tickets were not provided.

"We reviewed all of our own, and the submitted evidence which resulted in the appeal being rejected. The driver then appealed to POPLA who independently consider the evidence from both parties and decide an outcome. In this case, POPLA found in Premier Parks favour and the charge currently remains outstanding for the 28 minute overstay."