Toll bridge fine issued to driver 270 miles away

Toll bridge fine issued to driver 270 miles awayImage caption, The Warburton Toll Bridge crosses the Manchester Ship CanalByKaleigh WattersonCheshire political reporterPublished3 hours agoA driver said he was left "perturbed" after receiving a fine for crossing a toll bridge more than 270 miles from his home despite insisting he had never been near it.Graham Parsons, from Plymouth, Devon, received an unpaid toll charge for using the Warburton Toll Bridge, which links Cheshire and Greater Manchester.His case is one of a number raised by motorists who have complained about the bridge's payment and enforcement system.Peel Ports said there had been "some genuine customer experience issues", but the evidence did "not indicate a systemic failure of the system".Image caption, Graham Parsons received a charge - despite living more than 270 miles away from the bridgeThe bridge previously cost 12p a crossing, but the charge was increased to £1 following refurbishment works in recent years.Manned toll booths were removed and replaced with an automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera system.Mr Parsons told BBC Politics North West he received an unpaid toll charge in early June for a crossing in March."I put my Sherlock Holmes hat on because I didn't realise that I'd ever been near the bridge," he said."And in fact, I had never been near the bridge because it's 271 miles from where I live. So I was quite perturbed and annoyed."He appealed and discovered the camera had misread his registration plate, which differed by one character from the vehicle photographed.Two weeks later, he received a second letter relating to another crossing in April.Mr Parsons then submitted a subject access request to parking operator Excel Parking, after which the charges were cancelled.He said he was "lucky" to know what steps to take and highlighted that a Facebook group where others had been through similar exper...