A CAR parking company has won a court battle with motorists who refused to pay tickets, bosses said.

And now S&B Parking, which manages car parks at Lomeshaye Industrial Estate, Nelson, has instructed bailiffs to get the hundreds of pounds owed to it from 200 motorists who had refused to pay.

The company, which took over the parking services in June, said it had successfully obtained judgments against three people who had refused to pay because they believed the fines were not enforceable, after being told so by a local business.

The court ruled the fines were both legal and enforceable and that defendants had to pay them the amount owed, S&B said.

People who parked in the spaces without a permit are fined £90, which increases to £150 if not paid within 28 days.

Drivers are given five minutes' grace before the fine is issued.

But the scheme became caught up in controversy after it was revealed that S&B used CCTV cameras to identify motorists breaking the law and obtained their details by sending the registration plate number to the DVLA.

One customer racked up six fines over three weeks without realising because S&B does not put tickets on the windows.

But Matthew Brough, who owns the S&B Parking, said he was delighted with the court's verdict.

He said: "I am chuffed to bits that we have won the three test cases.

"S&B Controlled Parking pursue all unpaid parking tickets without question.

"It has come to our attention that people with parking tickets have been wrongly advised by a local business owner not to pay the amounts owed because they are not enforceable.

"Clearly this is false information. So we have gone to court and won."

S&B Parking said it stopped putting tickets on car windscreens after its three parking wardens experienced five incidents of "serious violence", including one being "run over".

It said the charges were legal, fair and reflected the costs of running the enforcement scheme.

But following the complaints, S&B agreed to put up additional signs to warn motorists of the fines.

Police have previously said they were investigating 16 complaints about the scheme but that it appeared to be a civil, rather than criminal matter.

However Pendle Council Leader Alan Davies said it was an "unacceptable situation" and that the fines were "excessive".

Coun Alan Davies has pledged to bring the matter up at a council meeting to see what could be done.