A couple spent two years battling the council over a £2.20 parking ticket they say blew off their dashboard - and ended up having to pay £400. Shane O'Byrne and wife Jaimie received the fine after they took their newborn baby Cristabelle out for the first time in March 2013. In the process of getting out of the car the ticket they had bought fell on the floor just underneath the driver's seat - invisible to the warden who issued them with a penalty. Escalating row: A couple spent two years battling the council over a £2.20 parking ticket they say blew off their dashboard - and ended up being ordered to pay £400. The couple explained to the authorities what had happened but were not let off the fine. Adamant they would not pay it, the O'Byrne's exchanged a number of letters with the council over the next two years - with the row escalating from an initial £25 fine to bailiffs knocking on their door and demanding £400. Mr O'Byrne, from Southsea in Portsmouth, Hampshire, was forced to pay the sum to Chichester District Council after the incident in a car park in Chichester, West Sussex. Mr O'Byrne, a self-employed marketing consultant, said: 'We parked in a marked bay and purchased a ticket. 'As this was the first time we'd taken our first child out of the house it was all a bit of an ordeal getting her and the buggy out, out of the way of other traffic. 'In my haste I failed to attach the ticket firmly to the inside of the windscreen. 'On our return to the car I found a parking ticket on the windscreen and found my ticket on the floor just under the driver's seat. Not backing down: Chichester Council have insisted they followed the correct procedures and made the 'appropriate decision' 'As this was an unfortunate occurrence I assumed it would be cleared up by us sending a letter and the actual ticket to Chichester council explaining what had happened, which I did. 'I was therefore a little shocked to hear that the council were not interested in my story.' The council didn't cancel the fine and both parties involved corresponded a number of times over the coming months. The family moved house to another address in Southsea over the two-year period and said he informed the council of his move. But bailiffs turned up at his old house, where Mr O'Byrne has tenants, and demanded payment or to take belongings to the value of £400. Mr O'Byrne believes the whole row has been a waste of time and money for the council, he said: 'I understand there is a process but common sense should have prevailed. 'It was a £2.20 ticket that I actually bought. I can't understand why local government can't use common sense.' In a letter to the council he stated: 'All I ever asked is that a government, and therefore taxpayer-funded, organisation treated this case with common sense and they did not waste taxpayers' money on a totally unnecessary campaign based on a ticket that was paid for.' He admitted he would have paid the initial £25 fine if he knew the row would cause him so much grief. A spokeswoman for Chichester District Council said: 'We understand it's not nice receiving a penalty notice but we do need to manage parking activity in the district effectively and we treat each case both fairly and transparently. 'Our parking enforcement team follows the legislation within the Traffic Management Act. 'This particular case has been through three stages, one of which was an independent traffic penalty tribunal. 'All agreed that the council had followed the correct procedures and had made the appropriate decision.'
Shane O'Byrne and wife Jaimie received the parking fine in March 2013 .
Couple, of Portsmouth, had been taking newborn baby out for the first time .
As they got out car the ticket they bought fell on floor below driver's seat .
Council refused to let them off and initial £25 fine escalated to £400 bill .