Back in October (16/10/07) I received a "Civil Penalty Notice" of £60 for parking my car on the kerb of the residents car park at the newly built flats where I live. Residents parking had just been inforced the day before by the private company Northern Parking Services (NPS).

A side issue here is my flat was rented to me with an allocated car parking space, however when the parking spaces were numbered it transpired it doesn't have one. When the NPS signs went up I spoke to the management company that look after my flat and was advised to continue parking as normal but not in a marked bay and was assured it would be OK - hence why my car was on the kerb. Unsurprisingly I received a ticket. I immediately called the management company and they said they would get the fine cancelled. At this point in time the management company were adament all their paper work states the flat has an allocated parking space however it has now been established it does not. This is an on going issue - Any help with this would be appreciated too!

As promised this was the last I heard of the fine until last Thursday (27/3/08) when I received a final reminder to pay, informing me that I now owe them £135.
The reminder states "date of issue of Notice to Owner" as 21/2/08 - I have received no such notice.
The date of issue of this notice is stated as 20/3/08 - a whole week before I received it.

I have contacted the management company again (Thursday 27/3/08) and they have promised to deal with it however I am very conscious that the next stage is baliffs and court action, and I only have 2 days left to pay up.

I have had no contact with NPS myself, although the property management company have (unless they were lying). I have tried to read up on this topic but I'm in such a confused situation I can't work out what rules apply.

What should I do now?

Well done Keithhughes.You have the right idea.A private parking company(ppc) cannot issue fines.They issue "illegal invoices".The ppc's are not covered by the Road Traffic Act 1991.It is only local authorities,the likes of local council,police etc.All ppc#s have to adhere to the dvla code of practice.If anyone gets a "fine" from a ppc, you can either ignore all the letters they send you and eventually they will go away, or you can cause them to keep waisting money on letters/postage by replying to their letters like I do.I usually string them along by asking them to refer the matter to the driver and not the registered keeper(r.k.(.They then send another letter asking for the drivers name and address.I reply saying I am not legally obliged to give them those details.They then reply saying the matter will be referred to the courts.I then reply saying in big block capitals   SEE YOU IN COURT.They then reply saying they can legally ask for the details.I then reply saying they can legally ask for the details but I am not legally obliged to answer their request, I then quote a few laws like the administration of justice act, the fraud act, the harassment act etc.All of a sudden you get no more mail and they have wasted all that time trying to get some money from you.YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY!!