A LOCAL man, who claims to have been a patron at The Swan Hotel in Alton for the past five years, believes he has just paid for the most expensive cup of coffee in the world. The businessman, who does not wish to be named, fell victim on Thursday last week to the hotel's new fee-paying parking arrangement and, instead of paying £6 for a coffee and a roll at lunchtime, was faced with a thumping £100 parking fine. The man was one of 19 car owners who parked in the Swan Hotel car park on Thursday and Friday last week but failed to register the new arrangement. It is an act of desperation by hotel owners Greene King who have tried everything they can think of to prevent shoppers and workers taking up free space in their car park at the expense of paying customers. According to manager Kayleigh Ede, for years the 48-bay car park has been abused by people who rarely set foot in the hotel and yet guests and patrons are forced to park elsewhere. On many occasions guests have also been hemmed in by non-hotel users and access routes have been blocked causing health and safety issues with restricted access for refuse collectors and emergency services. While the hotel has tried other forms of car park control, including a barrier system, with tokens allocated to bona fide users, none of them have worked. As a final straw, management of the car park has now been handed over to WJ Parking. Signs went up last Wednesday, along with a pay and display machine, and the system became operational on Thursday. Tickets cost 40 pence for an hour and £4.50 for eight hours - all redeemable to those who spend more than £5 in the Swan bar or restaurant. The fine is £100, reduced to £30 if paid within 14 days and resulting in a visit to the small claims court if payment is not received within 28 days. Of the man who claims to have paid "over the odds" for his coffee, Ms Ede said she had written to him explaining that management of the car park is now handled by WJ Parking who operate an appeal process and that he would need to send his bar receipt to the company to request a reprieve. His gripe was that there were no notices in the hotel or on the bar alerting customers to the fact that they may, having been used to a free car park, have inadvertently failed to pay. The manager said her staff had been told to jog people's memories but acknowledged that if the bar was busy at lunchtime it may have slipped their minds. It was, she felt, a timely warning to anyone used to using the Swan Hotel car park for free, that those days have now gone. Patrons and guests will not have to pay but, in order to run an effective business, the general public will.