A MOTORIST who inspired a campaign against a car parking firm after he was wrongly fined said the company is "finally capitulating."

Tyrone Larmour, of Briar Bank, Cockermouth, received a parking charge notice (PCN) from HX Car Park Management after using their facility on Vulcan's Lane in Workington, despite paying for his ticket.

He later won his case in court, as did a number of other motorists who were issued PCNs at the same car park.

Mr Larmour's experience prompted Workington MP Sue Hayman to launch a mass legal action against HX and she called for the company to cancel the PCNs and refund motorists who had already paid.

Now Mr Larmour believes HX are backing off after six cases which were due to be heard at the Workington court earlier this month were dropped.

However the company strongly denies buckling under the pressure of the MP or the media attention.

A spokesman for HX said: "Each individual case is considered on its own merits and a decision was made, in conjunction with advice from our solicitors, to discontinue a small number of matters.

"HX Car Park Management Limited categorically deny that the decision to discontinue a small number of claims is as a direct result of the influence of Sue Hayman MP, nor was the decision made because of any concerns regarding the efficiency of the machines.

"HX Car Park Management Limited can confirm that we have every intention of pursuing matters in relation to the Vulcan's Lane site through the courts and confirm that we will not be considering any retrospective refunds."

The company, which uses an automatic number plate recognition system, claimed Mr Larmour's ticket was not valid because three letters of the registration number were missing. Mr Larmour, who said he inserted the correct registration, appealed the fine but the company refused to cancel the ticket. And since speaking out about his experience to the News & Star, more than 70 people came forward with similar claims, saying the machine was faulty.

He said: "It's like they're finally capitulating. It's a victory for all motorists, I'm very glad I went to the press about my ticket when I did and highlighted what was happening."

Mrs Hayman wrote to Kenny Marland, HX's director, to ask for a meeting to find an informal settlement for the affected motorists. The company said it would be happy to look at some cases again and the MP is due to send a list of case she wants them to drop.

She said: "What we're asking is that in light of the court cases, they drop all demands for people who haven't paid their fine and reimburse those who have paid it and shouldn't have done.

"I wouldn't say we've won yet, but we have clear, repeated evidence that they're wrong and their car park ticket system isn't working.

"Critically, what we always said is that they're chasing people for very large sums without a leg to stand on."