A grandmother was alarmed to find she could have been fined for visiting the hospital car park, even though she could not find a parking space.

Julia Fidler drove to Barnet Hospital in Wellhouse Lane to meet her new granddaughter and sick daughter-in-law, but had to give up looking for a place to park because it was too busy.

Instead, she left her car nearly a mile away in Mays Lane and walked to the hospital.

The retired nurse said: “I went round and round for about 20 minutes at Barnet General Hospital’s car park. Nose to tail with other cars, delayed at each corner, unable to move forward.”

When she came out, she was horrified to see that because she did not pay, but was inside the car park for more than 20 minutes, she is at risk of receiving a fine.

Parking Eye runs the car park.

She said: “It’s a small sign that says you are being booked for the time as soon as you enter the carpark.

"If I had to wear glasses or it was night and too dark, how could i see it? I just want to highlight how unfair the conditions are.

"20 minutes is not enough time to get out of the car, into the hospital and back again even in the best of times, let alone finding a place to park."

"The time should be raised to 30 minutes and there should be massive signage as you enter from Wellhouse Lane.”

"I have to wait and see now if i get a fine."

A Parking Eye Spokesman said: “We encourage people who have received a parking charge to appeal if they think there are mitigating circumstances, and instructions about how to do this are detailed on all communications and on our website.

"If a motorist disagrees with our decision they have the option to appeal to the independent appeals service (POPLA).”