The daily threat of phantom parking fines and even court action is being faced by care home nurses in Seaton – just for going into work.

Staff at the Netherhayes Care Home, in Fore Street, have received the fines as the only access to the building’s staff free parking is through a public car park operated by Premier Park Ltd.

The car park uses registration plate recognition cameras which pick up the plates of all vehicle entering the Seaton car park. However, staff at Netherhayes are not using the parking facilities there and instead are passing through to get to work.

Now they are being inundated with parking fines and, in some cases, threats of legal action, for driving to their place of work.

Nicky Solway, 57, who has been working at the care home for 16 months, travels from Lyme Regis to work at Netherhayes, said some staff have become ‘quite depressed’ by the situation.

She said the fines pre-date her starting there and other staff have just paid the fines to ‘get them off their backs’.

Mrs Solway has been ordered to pay £100 in fines and her daughter, Rebecca Peacock, who also works at the care home, has had two notices threatening legal action.

She said: “Every time we go into work, their cameras clock us and when we come out after a 12-hour shift, they try and tell us we’ve been parking there the whole time.

“It keeps happening – I'm not paying when I haven’t actually parked there.”

There is an East Devon car park a short walk from the rear entrance of the care home, but someone working five days a week at the care home may end up paying more than £1,500 a year to do so.

Mrs Solway said they shouldn’t have to park in a pay-and-display car park when they have their own at work they can use.

She added: “We’re frontline workers and we’re trying to work.

“We’re working hard for our money – carers aren’t well paid – and we’ve got a job to do and I’m not paying tickets for parking somewhere I haven’t parked.”

Premier Park Ltd, which operates the car park, has not responded to requests for comment when the Herald went to press.