The popular Bristol pub where shocked customers are wrongly getting £85 parking fines

The cheapest pint at The Yeoman maybe the £3.70 Carling but a lot of regulars at this busy Whitchurch pub over the past month have had to pay an extra £85 for the pleasure.

Part of the Sizzling Pubs chain, the pub on the Wells Road benefits from a large car park to the side and customers have to tap their vehicle registration number into the tablet on the bar on arrival.

That sounds simple enough but there’s a problem. According to the barman I spoke to, there has been a fault on the system so the camera clocking registration numbers is ‘broken’ and more than 80 customers have suddenly found themselves with £85 fines.

Although they will eventually get refunded, it hasn’t gone down well with the locals, as you might imagine.

When you’re popping down for your ‘two dishes for £10’ weekday meal, the last thing you want is a whopping great fine for being a valued customer and supporting your local pub at a time when they need as much help as they can get.

The regulars in the pub on Friday lunchtime were clearly aware of the problem. As soon as anybody walked into the bar, they told any car users to beware.

This sprawling roadside venue may promote itself as a food destination with its ‘fresh from our grill’ signage, but it’s also very much a locals’ pub.

There’s a huge food menu on offer but also a good choice of drinks at prices that won’t raise too many eyebrows.

My pint of Guinness was a reasonably priced £4.20 and the most expensive pint is the San Miguel at £4.50.

Other choices include Thatchers Gold, Bud Light, Coors, John Smith’s and Stella, with Doom Bar in bottles if real ale is more your thing.

The two bars have a budget hotel lounge look with flatscreens on the walls and a pool table at one end.

One area is more geared towards diners, but it still attracts plenty of drinkers using it as meeting place in an area that doesn’t have too many pubs.

‘See you up the Legion,’ shouted one drinker to his mate as he left the pub. The other drinkers were a mix of lunchtime pint builders, a silent couple staring into the distance and a couple of chaps having a business meeting.

But the silence of the bar was soon broken by a loud ping on somebody’s mobile.

‘I wonder who that is at this time on a Friday,’ laughed the surprised recipient. ‘It’s either the bailiffs or my daughter!’

‘Sure it’s not a £85 bill for the pub car park,’ chuckled his mate.

Thankfully, he had walked to The Yeoman on this occasion but there will be plenty of others who receive these unwelcome fines and the sooner the pub’s owners fix the problem, the better for all concerned. We’ve contacted Sizzling Pubs to find out.

The Yeoman, 700 Wells Road, Whitchurch, Bristol, BS14 9HX.