A WINCHESTER man has been fined £100 for leaving his car in a Somerset parking space – despite not being in the county.

On Monday August 19, Tony Harding, 84, of Stuart Crescent, Stanmore, got the parking ticket, which was sent to him via post from a company called Nexus.

The letter claimed that he had left his car for more than eight hours in a Taunton Deane car park, 100 miles from his home.

Tony said: “I got in such a state. I was so worried, and thought the worst. The first thing I thought was that my car might have been cloned, or something terrible like that.

“I didn’t really know what to do, and didn’t think they’d believe me over the phone. All I was doing at the time was picking up the lady I meet every Thursday as part of my voluntary work, and she lives in Hampshire.”

It wasn’t until Tony’s grandson noticed the registration number in the writing did not match the registration shown in the CCTV image.

Tony’s car’s registration ends in VWD, and the vehicle that should have been fined ended in VND.

He added: “I’m glad my grandson came round and helped calm me down. I’m too old to be dealing with stuff like this.”

Nexus haven’t responded to a request for comment.