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A parking firm has been accused of running an 'entrapment scheme' after drivers were forced to pay fines for using a car park they didn't realise was privately owned.
Drivers claim the tiny private car park is easily confused for a council one as the sign for it is hidden behind a tree - and it is located between two Milton Keynes City Council parking zones.
The car park, which is operated on behalf of the Tenpin bowling alley in the city centre, does not have any road markings or barriers at either entrance to separate it from the adjacent council parking.
Instead there are just two small, unlit entrance signs at one end - both of which can be easily missed - which say the parking spaces are for 'patrons only'. There are also council parking machines at either end, further adding to the confusion.
John Baker, a senior councillor for neighbouring Central Bedfordshire Council, has now accused firm Parkingeye of running 'a racket' and 'misusing the County Court system to demand payment for an illegal scheme'.
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Parkingeye has been accused of running an 'entrapment scheme' after pressuring motorists into paying fines for parking in a car park that could be easily confused for a council one - as a sign was 'hidden' behind a blossoming tree (John Baker pictured with the sign)
Parkingeye runs a tiny private car park which is on a through road connecting two parking areas run by Milton Keynes City Council - and motorists are being sent £100 charges after not realising who owned the spaces
James Ward was slapped with a £100 charge notice after dropping off his son Alex, 12, at the Tenpin bowling alley in Milton Keynes and parking his car there for eight minutes
He told MailOnline: 'In my view, Parking Eye has stooped to a new low with this racket.
'By illegally placing a "private parking" entrance sign adjacent to an MK Council parking ticket machine, the company actively entrapped motorists before issuing a £100 charge for parking, sometimes for just a few minutes.'
Initially, Parkingeye erected an unlit entrance sign on a council lamppost directly beside a council parking meter.
Before Christmas, Parkingeye and Tenpin were ordered by Milton Keynes Council to remove the sign as it was illegally affixed to the lamppost. They eventually did so in February after some delay.
Parkingeye then moved the offending entrance sign 'and hid it behind a tree', Cllr Baker said.
MailOnline has spoken to several people who feel they were pressured into paying Parkingeye.
Mother-of-one Blanca MacLennan, 49, was charged £100 for parking in the area for around 20 minutes for a dentist visit, after paying at a council parking meter as she mistook the area for public parking.
Mrs MacLennan, from Milton Keynes, parked in the bay on February 29. She received the parking charge notice from Parkingeye on March 3.
She reached out to Tenpin, who told her she would have to appeal to Parkingeye, who then rejected it but offered her a a discount to £20 as a 'gesture of good will'.
'If I don't want to spend a lot of time fighting in court or with letters then it was best to pay,' she said.
Mr War was handed a £100 parking charge despite parking for his son to use Tenpin and only being parked there for eight minutes
'They know that you don't want a headache pursuing this. It could be in favour or against you.
'If they rule in your favour you recover the £20 but if not you can lose the £20, the original penalty of £100 and then pay for the court expenses. That could be £300, I don't want to risk that.'
Mrs MacLennan added: 'Had the rules been clearer I wouldn't have parked there. I didn't see any sign telling me it was Tenpin parking.
'What you see is the machine opposite sign to pay for the Milton Keynes parking.
'It's a way for Tenpin to make money off people who don't go to Tenpin.'
Father-of-two James Ward, 45, also from Milton Keynes, was also pressured into paying a £20 charge reduced from £100 as a 'gesture of goodwill' after he parked in car park for just eight minutes, while dropping his son off at the bowling alley on December 19.
Mr Ward's 12-year-old son Alex was bowling with his Scout troop for their Christmas party and as he was early, he waited a few minutes until a leader arrived.
'I got a letter through the post a couple of weeks later,' Mr Ward said. 'It said I had to pay £100 or, if paid within 28 days, it's £60.
'I immediately
