KEIGHLEY gym users entitled to two hours free parking outside the gym have lashed out after receiving parking fines.

Users of Sports Direct Gym, in Cavendish Retail Park, were issued with £60 penalties by Excel Parking Services.

They said the "injustice" was compounded by the fact that gym owner Sports Direct also owns the Excel managed car park.

But Excel responded that in cases where gym users were fined, there was no record of them entering their car's registration number into machines meant to record their presence in the gym.

Eastburn resident and gym user David Tudor, 52, said his car was ticketed on October 7, even though he was in the car park for only 89 minutes.

He said he was prepared to go to court to fight the £60 fine, which rises to £100 if not paid promptly.

"Before I got the ticket I'd been to the gym 364 times without problems," he said.

"I've rung Sports Direct numerous times about this but no one has got back."

Judy Sale, 69, from Haworth, received two parking tickets – one on September 9 and one on October 6. She is appealing against both.

She said she did enter her car's licence plate number into the machine inside the gym, to register that she was eligible for free parking.

"It's our word against theirs because when you put your licence plate number in you don't get a receipt," she said.

"I know of some people at the gym who've had one ticket after another. It's impossible that we're all forgetting."

Bingley resident Sandra Woods received two £60 parking tickets, despite only using the car park for 92 minutes and 94 minutes.

She has been a member of the Sports Direct gym since last December.

"What they're doing to people is disgusting," she said. "They got me because I was late putting by licence plate number into the machine, but I did not go over the two hour parking limit."

Jackie McGarry, of Silsden, got four parking tickets while using the gym last year. She said Excel is demanding she pay £400.

She is challenging this and said she has proof she was using the gym so was entitled to free parking.

The Excel spokesman responded: "Sports Direct gym members are exempt from the need to pay for parking for up to two hours provided they input their vehicle registration numbers on one of two touchscreen terminals.

"Touchscreen data is matched against images of vehicles, as captured by Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, to identify vehicles exempt from paying.

"In terms of the Parking Charge Notices (PCNs) issued to Mr Tudor and Ms Sale, we've checked our records and can see they are both regular gym attendees.

"However, on the dates when the PCNs were incurred, there is no record of their vehicle details.

"There are records preceding, during, and after the times of their visits showing vehicle details were being input, indicating the terminals were working normally.

"Technical issues can arise, but given the volume of vehicle registration numbers input through the terminals runs to tens of thousands, these are uncommon. We perform checks in order to mitigate instances of an erroneous PCN.

"We have an appeals procedure for members to use which is set out on the reverse of the PCN."