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I regularly park in our local town centre car park, which is also the largest public car park in the town. 70p fee for two hours. There is a clear sign by the ticket machine and attached to the reminder boards which tells me that the charge for overstaying is, as I recall, £70. The fee is recoverable from the neighbouring supermarket. Sometimes the car park is completely full.

All I have to do to avoid the charge is to be able to tell the time.

From memory the undisputed facts in this case are that the appellant bought a timed ticket, substantially overstayed the time limit, and there were clear notices of the consequences of not keeping to time. No force majeure is alleged by the appellant.

So either he could not tell the time, or he did not care if he overstayed.

The issue is what he should pay. General damage for trespass will be de minimis at least most of the time. So a sum has to be made up which is sufficient to deter misuse of the car park. There is probably no contract between the parties - a licence for a time in exchange for a fixed fee. So penalties and genuine pre-estimates don't seem to arise.

If the sum in issue is declared invalid, will the Supreme Court set a tariff? If so on what economic model? Will the tariff be based on supply and demand; higher in areas of popular use (like Bath where I sometimes reluctantly park) or high land cost in large cities? Or must it be "reasonable" and left to the protagonists to haggle over? I don't know.

I agree that this boil needs lancing whatever the outcome.

No connection with car parking companies, just a user.