Dad-of-one Damian Maj admitted he parked his car slightly over the bay in a multi-storey car park in Birmingham, but thought the pillar blocking the other section meant it was not in use

A dad was hit with a £100 fine for parking three inches over a bay he thought was inaccessible for other drivers – because it is blocked by a massive pillar.

Damian Maj, from Crick near Rugby, said he was shocked when he received the notice after parking his Mazda at a Birmingham city centre car park.

The maintenance engineer engineer paid £2.20 for a ticket while visiting Birmingham with wife Agata and 18-month-old son Victor on August 1, Birmingham Live reports.

He accepts he parked slightly over a bay, but he claims he thought it was unusable for other drivers because it’s blocked by a huge concrete pillar.

But Premier Parking Logistics, who are responsible for the site, insist that drivers do use it.

Mr Maj said: “I returned to my car and just couldn’t believe it, so I took some pictures.

“The space (next to Mazda) was blocked by a post that is supporting the roof. Clearly, no-one can park on this space safely by manouvering around that post.

“As I am a new father I waslooking for spaces around the car park where I could fully open the car’s door to take safely my little one out of the car.

“So I did move m y car a little to the space with no access and covered a yellow line.

“When we came back, I received a ticket for ‘Not Parked Wholly Within Bay’.

“I could absolutely agree with a ticket if I blocked another space or some access but in this case, clearly, another car can’t park there.”

Mr Maj issued an appeal to the company to overturn the ticket but lost.

A spokesman for Premier Parking Logistics said the bay WAS used by motorists and added Mr Maj had “admitted that they purposely parked over the bay for their own convenience, so has admitted liability.

“The terms and conditions which form the contract which the driver agreed to adhere to were broken by the driver.

“The driver parked next to the sign with the terms and conditions. There is also a 24 hour phone number on the signs.

“We have checked the back office and on the day there were only 7 cars in the car park during the whole day.

“There are 30 spaces in the car park all of which are above regulation size as recommended by local authorities.

“We have today taken time stamped photos of the bay you claim to be obstructed with 2 cars either side and the bay empty . We have then taken time stamp photo of a vehicle parked in the bay and then comfortably leaving the bay.”

The company invited our reporter to the car park to see a vehicle being parked in the bay, but we declined.