I was slapped with £500 fine for dropping off just two people at an airport – don’t get caught out like I did

AN UBER driver was left stunned after he was fined more than £500 for dropping off two people at an airport.

Trevor Storey, 63, was fined on two separate occasions after he dropped off his passengers at Newcastle International Airport.

2

2

The taxi driver didn't know he had been charged the hefty sum, until his bank flagged the transaction.

Trevor, from South West Denton, was charged £253 instead of £4 when he dropped off his customer on April 14.

The machine at the airport failed to give him a receipt, which meant he had no idea how much he'd been charged.

He would return to the airport for another drop-off a week later.

read more on motors

CLEAN MACHINE

Car expert warning over cleaning hack & how avoiding it could save £100s

DOIL CHANGE

Vintage car draped with doily is among unusual entrants for Turner Prize

Yet, instead of being charged the normal amount he received a whopping £308 fine.

Trevor, who has been a taxi driver for 25 years, contacted the airport and they quickly refunded his cash.

He said: "The woman was very quick to arrange for the money to be refunded."

However, the Uber driver fears this could be happening to others who are unaware.

"Imagine the amount of people this could happen to and they wouldn't realise," he said.

"It could have been someone's last pound that they took and left them with nothing if they had bills to pay."

Bosses at Newcastle Airport told Chronicle Live that occasionally the system fails to read a vehicle's registration plate because of bad weather or number plate inconsistencies.

Trevor is worried these system failures will cause people a lot of "stress and anxiety" and knows the "airport won't get in touch with people to say they have been overcharged".

A spokeswoman for Newcastle International Airport said errors like this are not specific to their car park but are present at all car parks that use ANPR systems.

She added: "As with all automatic number plate recognition systems, occasionally a vehicle's registration plate cannot be read - this is often due to poor weather or number plate inconsistencies.

"Should an incorrect payment amount display on the barrier, we advise passengers to use the intercom to contact a member of the car parking team who will be more than happy to assist."