An 87-year-old veteran has gone into battle with a private parking company after being fined for leaving his car in marked spots that he did not know required a permit.

Jon Windeatt visited Stamshaw and Tipner Community Centre in Portsmouth on November 23 with his partner for an ‘afternoon dance’ in aid of Rowans Hospice.

But after parking in what he thought was free spots for the venue, he was slapped with a Parking Charge Notice (PCN) that he refuses to pay.

The matter has now been passed to debt collectors with Jon currently sitting on an outstanding balance of £170.

The Netley Abbey pensioner said that the website for the centre suggested ‘ample parking,’ but when he arrived, spots seemed to be reserved for permit holders only.

“I looked across the road and a sign that said ‘car park’ pointed towards this big open space,” Jon said.

“There were big bold letters along the ground that said ‘community centre’ on one side of the car park, along the bays.

“On the other side of the car park, there was a big sign that said residents only.”

READ MORE: Netley Abbey pensioner vows not to pay Tesco parking fine

Jon said he parked in the marked community centre bays, but 10 days later, a PCN arrived in the post.

“The dance was quite poorly unattended unfortunately, so we didn’t stay long and it was a forgettable event,” Jon said.

“But I was reminded of it two weeks later when the notice came through the door.”

The PCN, sent by One Parking Solution, said that Jon failed to display a valid permit and ordered him to pay £100.

“I’ve never known of a community centre that requires you to have a permit to use the community centre,” Jon explained.

“They don’t state any restriction at all on their website. There’s 10 community centres in that area, and only one of them, in Cosham, says that you have to have a permit to park.”

Jon appealed the charge, saying that it was not clear that the parking spots required a permit, and says he was misled by the big white text saying ‘community centre’ on the ground.

READ MORE: Man appears in court charged with murder of ‘lovely’ woman, 77

But he was response was unsuccessful, shot down because he failed to ‘fully and clearly display a valid permit in the front windscreen’ and therefore broke the car park’s terms and conditions.

The original PCN promises that if an appeal is unsuccessful, that defendants would be ‘informed on how to appeal to the Independent Appeals Service (lAS),' but Jon says no such information was provided.

The 87-year-old said: “The organisers of the dance didn’t mention that you might need a permit, when we signed in the visitors book, there was no mention of it at all.

“We didn’t know that we were doing anything wrong at all. It was mindboggling. Why would one expect anything different?”

One Parking Solution and Stamshaw and Tipner Community Centre have been contacted for comment.