POPLA Appeal help please! Parking Eye - Welcome Break

Hi there I’m hoping one of you good people could please help me with my appeal to POPLA

Quick Background Story
On Saturday the 3rd Aug 2013 i pulled into a Welcome break service station for a rest at 12.21am after driving all evening going on vacation. I was also with the in laws and their caravan they parked next to us in the car park. We bought some refreshments from the services and got our heads down for a few hours.

When we parked up I saw a sign directly in front of us which read WARNING A.N.P.R Automatic Number Plate Recognition in Operation, Please pay for additional parking time if exceeded the 2 hour free stay limit BUT the sign had no instructions of where to pay.

We left the car park approx. 3 and ¾ hrs later and continued on our holidays. After two weeks away I arrived back to find a ParkingEye Parking Charge Notice letter on the mat - £100 Charge or £60 if paid in 14 days (is the ruling not 21 days to pay via a ANPR Camera?)

After reading the great advise on here I decided not to pay and not to ignore and appealed for the charge to be overturned due to us not entering contract with the land owner and that the excessive charge was way above any loss caused and you guessed it I received a rejection letter stating that my appeal was of a generic nature and they supplied me with a verification code to appeal to POPLA.

Since all this has been going on I’ve return to a welcome break and taken pictures of the sign that I was parked in front of as evidence to which it doesn’t state where to pay. I’ve also been informed that a 24hrs parking charge is only £10, so how can they now charge £100. To add to this the in-laws have never received a letter or charge. Could I challenge the charge as not being consistent? But then again don’t want to land them with a charge.

So I’m now about to appeal to POPLA and want to get it right as I’m aware this is my one and only chance with them. (this is what I want to put in my appeal do you think it will stand up and if not what other direction could I go with?

Thanks in advance (my appeal needs to be lodged by Wednesday the 25th of Sept)

Dear POPLA
I’m writing to appeal a parking charge, I feel I am not liable for the parking charge as there was insufficient signage in place at the point of parking. The only sign visible to me on site was the one attached as evidence. Although the sign states that I was only permitted to park for 2 hours free it didn’t give me any indication of where to pay therefore I was unable to determine what the relevant parking restrictions were because there was no clear signage to explain what they were and with no parking meters onsite I had very little options available to me. I also feel that the Charge notice is Punitive and unfair. The £100 parking charge is arbitrary and disproportionate to any alleged breach of contract or trespass when the charge for 24hrs parking is only £10 to which I would have paid if I had been given instruction to do so. Please see attached evidence (photo of the welcome break sign), as proof of my appeal.

I so hope you can help – thanks again