Fed-up businesses on a Leyland retail park are blaming a clamping firm for scaring off customers.
Managers at some of Churchill Way Retail Park's stores say that parking tickets are costing them valuable income, and visitors to the shops are also up in arms.
Dad-of-two Andy Kirkham, of Moss Lane, was given a ticket this month for parking outside the bay - but says the retailers were on his side.
He said: "There are a couple of bays with flower beds jutting out that make it impossible to park in the lines. I wrote a nice letter explaining that with pictures, but the ticket still stands.
"I've been speaking to some of the managers of the stores and they are cheesed off that everyone's getting fined. If they keep on with this policy they are going to lose business."
The shops on Churchill Way don't own the land - an unknown landlord does and rents it out to the retailers.
This means they don't have any control over parking regulations, with the landlord employing Preston-based firm National Clamps to enforce the penalties.
Instore sales manager Glenn Mowforth said: "They do tend to ticket first and ask questions later.
"We get customers telling us they are not coming back and it is affecting business a bit.
"We get elderly and disabled people who might forget to display their disabled badge and get done."
McDonald's franchisee Nigel Dunnington said: "Personally I don't believe in clamping, however there are a limited number of spaces.
Unfortunately a lot of the customers that get tickets are my customers and my staff and even myself have been clamped in the past.
"They vent their frustration at me and I fully understand it. If you are a parent and are finding a spot, getting a pushchair out, etc the last thing you'll notice is a clamping sign.
"I know they have a job to do, but there has got to be a better way of doing it."
Trevor Whitehouse, chairman of National Clamps said: "How can I be costing them customers?
"If they move their cars 15 yards and park where they should do there wouldn't be a problem. If people are parking in the wrong bays, we don't want them there.
"I have to draw a line in the sand somewhere, and no matter how low I draw that line, someone wants to push it.
"There's just no pleasing some folk.
"It's difficult to remind people of what it was like without us, when genuine customers couldn't get on because of local businesses parking there all day long.
"It is a thankless task and I don't expect to be knighted, but I can assure everybody we really try to be honest, sincere and above all, fair."
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