Visitors fume over Royal Shrewsbury Hospital's parking machines

The machines, which allow visitors to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to pay on exit are, some say, confusing and hard to operate.

One pensioner, who visited his wife at the hospital for more than a week while she received emergency treatment, racked up a bill of over £40 – some of which was in payments for cars which were not his own.

The elderly gentleman, who did not wish to be named, said: "I am not the only one having problems with the machines.

"As I understand it, there are now cameras at the entrances to the car parks which photograph each registration plate as they enter. Once the visit is over, drivers have to go to the machines, enter their registration plate details and then chose the correct one for them.

"This sounds easy but when you have just completed an upsetting hospital visit, it's dark and you are only given the first few letters and numbers of several registration plates to chose from, it is easy to make a mistake. It ended up with me paying more than £5 for one two-hour visit – as I paid for my car and for another car.

"I visit twice a day and it costs me a fortune. Each time I'm charged as if I'm a new visitor, not a returning one, which is how I thought the parking idea was sold to us all."

Jim Todman, 40, from Nesscliffe was visiting his mother at the hospital last week. He said: "The queues at the ticket machines were very long.

"Some people standing in them didn't know they paid on leaving so they were losing a lot of their visiting time. I went for a few days to visit my mum and each time when I came out and went to pay, the queues were horrendous."

Others left the car park without paying but fear they will get a fine. The new charges allow up to 30 minutes of free parking, with up to two hours costing £2.50, five hours at £3, and over five hours at £3.50.

No-one from the hospital was available for comment.