Motorists have been inundating The Argus with complaints about 'phantom fines' from car parks.

This week we revealed the Asda supermarket at Brighton Marina had been forced to cancel its backlog of parking fines after a flood of queries from drivers.

The store was inundated with calls from angry motorists who had been sent fines for parking but had never received a ticket, some up to 18 months after the alleged breach.

One of them, pensioner Roy Rice, 74, of Desmond Way, Brighton, said: "I think it's a stitch-up, a scam."

NCP ran the car park for Asda from 2003 to 2006 and when the supermarket chain ended its contract, it passed on the outstanding fines to debt recovery agency Roxborough for collection.

Roxborough has sent out letters to motorists demanding £80 in fines, despite many of them claiming they never even had a ticket on their cars.

Now more people have contacted The Argus with their stories of frustration at trying to object to the fines.

Former traffic warden Karrony Gordon, 59, from Kemp Town, Brighton, said given her old profession she would never park without a ticket.

Mrs Gordon and her husband Paul, 54, were sent a letter from Roxborough demanding £80 for a parking breach at Asda in March last year.

She said: "I used to be a traffic warden and I have worked for NCP in the past as well. We never park illegally.

"We wrote to Roxborough but we have not had anything back from them.

"This kind of thing shouldn't be allowed to happen."

Sandra Dean, 64, and her husband Michael, 68, of Milliard Crescent, Woodingdean, were also sent a letter from Roxborough fining them £80 for parking illegally in April 2006.

After writing to the debt collectors but getting no reply, the couple sought legal advice from Age Concern and have been offered a free meeting with a solicitor to discuss the fine.

Sandra said: "I was furious when we received the letter from Roxborough through the post.

"We thought it was a scam and called the police at first before getting in touch with Roxborough.

"They have been no help but Age Concern have been brilliant."

The complaints have not just come from Asda customers.

People using other NCP car parks have also received letters from Roxborough.

Among them is hairdresser manager Lynda Middleton from Rottingdean.

She works at Toni and Guy in Queens Square, Crawley and, along with her staff, parks in the NCP car park at the rear of the salon.

She said: "I've had 57 letters through but never had one ticket. I always buy a ticket when I park there.

"I've had fines for Sundays when I wasn't even at work and one of my staff had one for a day on which her car was in a garage being repaired and has receipts to prove it.

"I could understand a few fines but several of my staff have had more than 40 letters. It's laughable."

Mrs Middleton said she wrote to Roxborough but still hasn't had a reply.

She refuses to pay the fines until she is given evidence of the alleged parking breaches.

A spokesman for Asda said the supermarket chain had issued a letter to NCP requesting the cancellation of all outstanding parking fines and for fines already paid for that period to be refunded.

Malcolm Blake, operations manager for Roxborough, said all outstanding fines from the Asda car park had been put on hold while the matter was investigated and that any which had already been paid would be refunded.

NCP declined to comment.

Anyone wanting to query a fine with Roxborough or who is keen to find out when they can expect their refund can call the company's helpline on 0870 744 6250.

Have you received a 'phantom fine'? Call Samuel Underwood on 01273 544539 or leave your comments below.