The under-fire company responsible car parks in Watford town centre has hit back at claims customers are being unfairly fined for parking they have paid for.

The Watford Observer has reported on issues with cashless payment machines at the Gade car park in Rosslyn Road and the Church multi-storey car park in Exchange Road.

The parks - both managed by CitiPark - went cashless last month, along with the Sutton car park in Exchange Road.

Customers say they are entering their registration numbers and bank cards to pay, only for the payment not to show up on their bank statements.

Some car park users have received fines even getting 'confirmation' they have paid.

However, a spokesperson for CitiPark claimed that "98 per cent" of customers have paid for parking without any issues.

The spokesperson said: "Since the introduction of our new barrierless system across our branches in Watford, the vast majority of customers - 98 per cent - have successfully made payment without any issues."

James Kelly.James Kelly. (Image: James Kelly) Garston resident James Kelly is among the customers hit with a £100 fine (reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days), despite his bank statement showing that he paid for his parking.

However, the CitiPark spokesperson said: "Where difficulties have arisen, these have predominantly been due to customers not following the correct procedures which is clearly communicated on-site or entering their vehicle registration details incorrectly."

James Kelly says this bank statement provides proof that the Gade Car Park machines are faultyJames Kelly says this bank statement provides proof that the Gade Car Park machines are faulty (Image: James Kelly) When the move to cashless payments was made in September, many residents reacted furiously, with one labelling the decision "a joke".

A thread on community app Nextdoor has seen around a dozen residents sharing their experiences with the "faulty" machines.

One wrote: "I paid for parking with my debit card, and entered my car registration number, the payment was accepted and shows on my banking app. I still received a fine weeks later."

Another added: "My parents had the same issue twice, appealed and lost. They won’t park there anymore."

The CitiPark spokesperson said: “We understand that mistakes can happen and encourage any customers who encounter issues to contact us directly where we would be more than happy to investigate and resolve these cases”.