A WOMAN who was fined for parking outside her own home has won her legal battle.

Natalie Potter, who lives in Yarm, parked in a bay designated for her house with a permit on display.

Miss Potter said her permit must have been missed by a parking officer because she was later issued with a fine for parking without one.

After providing evidence of owning the permit, the self-employed artist was told her penalty charge notice (PCN) was cancelled.

However, the company responsible for parking monitoring issued Miss Potter with a second fine notice.

In her defence letter, Miss Potter said: "I thought that this matter had been resolved but Vehicle Controls Services (VCS) kept on asking me for money. They subsequently contacted QDR solicitors to represent them but after I provided evidence of the cancelled fine, they agreed to not contact me again.

"Then VCS contacted another company, ZZPS Ltd, to ask me again for the money. Again, I sent proof of cancellation and sent emails stating that the bay in question is the one which is designated for my use adding that I am the permit holder and confirming that the charge has already been cancelled in writing.

"This has been going on almost a year but then it stopped. Now two weeks before Christmas, they send a court summons to demand money.

"Personally, I would much prefer to spend the money on my son this Christmas."

Miss Potter represented herself at Middlesbrough County Court claiming to have been asked repeatedly over a period of 18 months to pay the fine.

She was awarded compensation for the repeated contact from the parking company.

She said: "For me it was a matter of principle. I spent a lot of time fighting my case and I had just moved into my house when it happened.

"It cost me a lot of effort to continue with my appeal."

Vehicle Controls Services were approached by The Northern Echo but were unable to comment at the time of request.