A CHIP shop owner says he is "absolutely furious" after losing his landmark legal bid to sweep away "rip-off" parking charges.

Barry Beavis, 48, who runs the Happy Haddock, in Morris Avenue, Billericay, took on private car park operators that heavily penalise motorists who overstay their allotted time in parking spaces.

He asked Court of Appeal judges in London to rule an £85 charge legally "unenforceable".

Mr Beavis, from Chelmsford, was charged the fee after over staying his ticket at the Riverside Retail Park, off Victoria Road in the city in April 2013.

But three judges unanimously dismissed his challenge, saying the amount he was charged "is not extravagant or unconscionable".

Mr Beavis, who is considering taking his case to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, said: "I am absolutely furious that they (the judges) have not upheld the law as it stands but have created new law".

Mr Beavis said: "I have lost the case, but on law that doesn't exist. The Court of Appeal does not have the legal right to make laws here."

He said: "I am utterly, utterly furious and will continue the fight."

Mr Beavis had said previously that he hoped he would win the case "for motorists everywhere".

He said: "What makes me angry is that these companies currently extort money by threatening and bullying people into paying up.

"A fine of £85 is not proportionate to overstaying by 56 minutes."

Parking Eye, who manage the car park, argued at a hearing before Lord Justice Moore-Bick, Lord Justice Patten and Sir Timothy Lloyd that the charges were "a commercially justified deterrent" for a city centre car park close to a station and a court complex where it was necessary to discourage over-stayers.

The ruling was a disappointment for motorists' organisations, including the AA, which said it hoped the appeal would "bring some clarity" to private parking enforcement and end "rip-off" charges - or the Government itself would impose a fairer regulatory system.

Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "It is deeply frustrating that the case has gone against Mr Beavis, but we believe the days of sky-high charges and business models that incentivise firms to issue tickets like confetti no matter how minor the misdemeanour are numbered.”