Anna Scriven, 28, was fined £50 for over-running her stay in a car park because she was breastfeeding daughter Mollie (pictured with her mother)

A mother has hit out after she was fined £50 for over-running her car park time limit because she was breastfeeding her baby.

Anna Scriven, 28, admits she was an hour late returning to her car after leaving it outside Morrison's in Riverside Retail Park, Norwich.

She says she had been shopping in the supermarket, but then visited a branch of Mothercare on the other side of the complex to feed and change seven-week-old daughter Mollie, taking her over the two-hour free limit.

When she received the £50 fine, Mrs Scriven explained what had happened, but parking firm ParkingEye refused to waive the fee as she had lost her receipt and could not prove she had visited the supermarket.

'I had it in my head that the two hour time limit was to stop people using it for free all day parking,' said Mrs Scriven, who is also mother to Phoebe, four. 'I was a genuine user of the car park.

'I was genuinely using the facilities and the shops and I just so happened to go over so I thought that they would consider that but that's probably naive of me.'

Mrs Scriven, who lives in Norwich, had visited the retail park on October, and received the fine two weeks later.

She wrote to ParkingEye to explain,and hoped bosses would understand why she had been late back to her car, and cancel the fine.

The administrator, who is currently on maternity leave, said: 'My hope was just that they would understand that. Yes I'd parked in the Morrison's side of the car park but needed to feed my newborn.

'I didn't really want to put her in the car to drive out of the Morrison's bit to drive back into the Mothercare because it's all within the same retail park so I just walked her across, fed her and was I was just hoping that they would understand that to some extent, it was out of my hands.

She added: 'I was very much a fraught mum trying to get out of the house for the day with a new born, because I was getting a bit of cabin fever.

Mrs Scriven admits she was an hour late returning to her car after leaving it outside Morrison's in Riverside Retail Park, Norwich (pictured), because she visited a nearby Mothercare to feed and change her daughter

'It does take an hour to breast feed a seven-week-old sometimes. These things aren't as simple as sticking a bottle in their mouth and letting them drink for 15 minutes, it's not quite the same thing when you're breast feeding.

'That is why I went to Mothercare because they've got a room and you can sit in private and take your time over these things.'

A ParkingEye spokesman said Mrs Scriven had been unable to prove she had visited the Morrison's branch.

'The motorist submitted an appeal relating to this parking charge but did not provide any proof of purchase,' he said.