A couple was fined for overstaying at a car park because the queue was so long they could not leave.

Donna and Darren Jacques were back at their car in the Stockton car park with time to spare, but they could not leave for another half an hour due to grid-locked traffic.

They appealed against the £100 fine but it was upheld by the independent ombudsman POPLA, which said the couple was still using the car park despite them trying to leave.

It said they should have bought a new ticket to cover the time they spent queuing. Car park operator ParkingEye had fined the couple, producing CCTV photos of them leaving the car park late.

The couple, from Billingham, had taken their two children to a firework display on Bonfire Night last year.

Mrs Jacques said: "We have never disputed we were half an hour late, but you don't pay to sit in a car park. "We couldn't physically leave.

"There's CCTV on the entrance, which is the same as the exit. I don't know if they've seen us coming back to the car.

"It feels like they're pushing you as far as they can so you will just give up and pay."

POPLA said the couple were still using the car park's facilities "regardless of whether they considered themselves to be parked".