A Stevenage man has branded a parking company ‘disgusting’ after charging him £200 for pulling over because of a migraine.

Jason Thorneycroft, of Wildwood Lane, felt a migraine coming on so pulled over into the parking zone at The Cromwell Hotel in Stevenage to take his tablets.

His symptoms include blind spots in his eyes and seeing flashing lights, making staying on the road dangerous for both him and other drivers.

His medication took half an hour to work and he left the hotel in the High Street 32 minutes later at 7.08pm, having regained his vision.

But a month later he received a letter through the post initially demanding £100 from parking enforcement company Parking Eye.

He told the Comet: “I received a letter from a company claiming that I owed then £100 because I violated the half-an-hour stay policy.

“I thought this has got to be a joke and some cowboys are trying to rip me off.

“After doing some research on the Money Supermarket website, I came to the conclusion that many people had suffered from the hands of these ‘cowboys’.”

So the 42-year-old ignored the letters and hoped the problem would resolve itself – except it didn’t and now Parking Eye is charging him £200.

He said the company is also threatening him with legal action.

Jason, who works as a dental technician in Hemel Hempstead, said: “I can believe they would go so far to rip me off anyway, all because of a migraine.”

However Jason did tell the Comet that so far he has not made any contact at all with Parking Eye, even to tell them about his illness.

“I didn’t contact them at all, I probably should have done that,” he admitted.

“But I just couldn’t believe they were charging me that much. It is disgusting, it is like daylight robbery.”

When asked if Parking Eye would drop the charges, a spokeswoman said: “Car park users enter into a contract to pay the right amount for the duration of their visit or to not exceed free parking limits.

“A charge becomes payable if the terms and conditions are not adhered to. In this case the motorist stayed for more than 30 minutes without making any payment.

“We operate an audited appeals process and encourage people to appeal if they feel there are mitigating circumstances.

“The motorist was issued with four letters and no appeal was received. Legal action has therefore been taken.”