ARRRIVING late back from a council meeting by a mere 27 seconds appears to have cost an elderly motorist a hefty parking fine.

Archie Wilson, 71, claimed he received a £60 demand from a private car park operator after he returned from a council meeting in Perth.

The retired draughtsman had paid 90p to park his car for one hour had been caught out by a photographic system which identifies the registrations of vehicles entering and leaving.

Mr Wilson said: "I couldn't believe it when the demand for £60 rising to £100 after 14 days arrived through the letterbox. There were two photographs of the registration plate with times that show that I had overstayed my welcome by 27 seconds. There is no way I am paying any penalty."

A spokesman for operators Smart Parking said it had no record of Mr Wilson buying a ticket. He said: "He correctly received a charge as we have no record of him buying a ticket, although on that day all of our payment machines were working and were used by many hundreds of motorists."