Royal Bolton Hospital are warning of a hoax email being sent out to residents by people claiming to be HM Courts and Tribunals for unpaid parking charges.

This comes after a Kearsley resident, Samuel Gethin, 80, received an email asking him to pay a £25 parking fine after he had gone to Bolton hospital for a blood test.

He was in the car park for a short period of time, meaning he didn't need to pay a fee, and was surprised when he received an email asking for a penalty fee.

Mr Gethin initially fell for the scam email and tried to click a link on the email to pay the fee, but was stopped by anti-virus software on his computer.

He said: "I went to the hospital for a quick blood test and could have only been in the car park for about 20 minutes.

"I got sent a 'bill' via email soon after which seemed strange as they always usually send letters.

"I thought to check it straight away as it didn't seem right and my computer stopped me when I tried to click on their link saying it wasn't right. And the phone number on the bill didn't exist.

"I would have no problems paying it if it were genuine but it wasn't right.

"As soon as I started looking into it I could see that it happened in cities across the country, the amount of places it's going on is scary.

"It was a good thing that my computer stopped me going any further and should act as a warning to others."

The Bolton News:

Lesley Wallace, director of finance at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Bolton NHS Foundation Trust have been made aware of fraudulent emails which are circulating to the wider public in relation to a HM Courts and Tribunal for unpaid parking charges of £25.

"These emails are a hoax and should be reported directly to www.actionfraud.police.uk. Please do not click on any links within the scam email.

"The Trust’s car parks are managed directly by ParkingEye and all correspondence in relation to parking and penalty charge notices will be sent from ParkingEye via post, with clear and exact details in relation to the issue.

"Please note that ParkingEye never sends Penalty Charge Notices by email."