A DRIVER is warning disabled motorists not to be taken in by tricksters who tried conning £100 from her using a fake parking ticket.

Sarah Godfrey, who has a disabled badge, did not fall for the scam after finding the bogus charge notice on her Hyundai Santa Fe in Winchester.

She now wants to alert other motorists to the scam, having been unable to persuade police to investigate.

The mother from Heatherstone Avenue in Hythe used the councilrun Upper Brook Street car park in Winchester on Monday, May 9.

She said: “I drove up to see a friend and we had a meal and looked around the shops. When I came back afterwards, I found the yellow parking ticket on my car.”

The notice said her wheels were outside the parking bay and she must pay £100 to the “parking office”.

She added: “My tyres were inside the line and the handwriting on the ticket might well be a man. The rest of it could have been printed off by anybody at home.”

The 37-year-old, who has a blue badge after undergoing back surgery, ignored the fake ticket and drove home.

On the way she reported the matter to Hythe Police Station but said officers did not take up the case.

Soon after she rang Winchester City Council’s parking office but they did not investigate either, she said.

Council penalty notices in Winchester are not printed on yellow paper but come in a pink waterproof package.

The authority usually charges £25 or £35, and not the £100 figure on the fake ticket.

A police spokesman said they were unable to comment, and the issue was a matter for the council.

A council spokesman said: “If somebody came in with a hand-written ticket and tried to pay, obviously we wouldn’t have taken their money. As far as we can tell, this is an isolated incident.”