what a waste of my time reading this! it is not the fault of dunelm, rather that of the private landlord who they rent the carpark off! i have been to this store many times and the signs are crystal clear. i have been charged for overstaying in the carpark in the past and all i did was let them know about it and they were more than happy to contact parking eye and have it cancelled for me. there was no need to take it to the papers as it would have gotten cancelled anyway!

As Alex says...This is not a "fine". If you get one this way ignore it and do not respond to them in anyway.

Is this not one of many seen drivers failures as they are too busy on their mobiles to read the road or even the signs so easily visible to careful drivers. I was following two driven cars on west of city and the two, on two separate journey occasions it was obviously noticeable gabbling on their hand held mobile. I drove closer and they both failed to signal on a corner junction that warranted a signal. The car was steered against at least by one against HMs HWC of two hands on the wheel.

Well, what a total waste of time and ink this article was. What have we all gained from reading this? TO READ SIGNS CORRECTLY! If you stay longer than your allocated time in a carpark then you will get a fine. Simple as that. And this rubbish about 'returning everything I bought and getting my money back' is also ridiculous. It's not the stores fault you got the fine, it's a privately run carpark company, so has nothing to do with Dunelm. I bet the receptionist in Dunelm got a right earful. As I know from experience working in a similar store with the same car park company. Please give us some real NEWS, News&Star.

We received a letter yesterday, fining us £70 for parking at Dunelm Mill in Sowton, Exeter when we spent £350 helping our daughter buy goods to furnish her new flat. How can you look at and buy goods for a home in two hours especially when you are parting with hard earned cash. I really will think twice before i go there again.

same thing happened to us. we'd spent £200 at dunelm mills in carlisle & received a charge a week later for £70. it is a charge not a fine so you are not obliged to pay it.

I think this lass has done the right thing - when you spend all that money in one store you should not be wacked with a parking charge like that for just going a little over the time! no wonder more and more people are turning to internet shopping now when things like this are happening.

1. I use this Carpark regularly and you can clearly see all sign's upon entering explaining in full detail the rules of using that carpark.

2. 2hrs probably isnt long enough if you where using all 4 shops in that area.

3. people who say because of parking charges which are standard everywhere in the UK not just Carlisle, you do not shop in Carlisle anymore. you are the reason a lot of shops in Carlisle are closing, to park for 3-5hrs would cost you approx £4 in Carlisle, P&P on items off ebay and over internet stores I bet are more than that, so where is the logic in staying away.....

GET DOWN AND SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHOPS

the thing that annoys me most, is why did Suzanne Burgess contact the news and star (why did news & star waste ink in printing the story)? the matter was closed within a few hours of a telephone call.

people like you make me embarrassed to be from Carlisle and Great Britain if this is all you can do, i certainly wont be using Solway Renewable Energy Ltd any time soon

If I was shopping with my wife for three hours in one shop I think I would of left her and gone home much earlier

i concur with david birch and alex. these tickets are invoices. my daughter got one, albeit in a different car park, and her ticket went from £45 up to £240 over time and when it still wasn't paid they informed her that as a gesture of good will they would accept £190. it still wasn't paid and regular letters arrived informing her of reductions if she would settle. it still hasn't been paid. this was september 2009 and we haven't heard anything for about 9 months now.