Civil servant Trevor Mundy from Salisbury, who intended to spend the day in Tavistock said he couldn't get out of the town quick enough and would never come back again.
He was so angry, he rang round several borough and district councils and discovered West Devon imposed the highest fixed penalty fines in Devon and Cornwall.
'I am sending in a letter of complaint,' he told the Times. 'I am absolutely furious; this is sheer greed.
'If I had been blocking someone's drive or a street, I could have understood the high fine and paid up without a thought, but I was in the Russell Street car park with a valid ticket which had just expired.'
Mr Mundy said the money he intended to spend in the town was now in the borough council coffers.
'This is not going to do your local businesses any good at all.'
He rang neighbouring Caradon and discovered it was one of the few authorities with a scale of reduced rates.
'In Caradon, if I return within an hour of the expiry time, I can pay £1.50 at the pay and display machine on the day which is very fair. Why can't West Devon do something like that? Something ought be done about these outrageous charges.'
Tavistock member Cllr Pat Warne said: 'This is something that perhaps we should take a fresh look at — the feedback is that we are quite high. I shall ask for a review of the charges.'
Chairman of West Devon's strategic development committee, Cllr Nick Morgan, said: 'Every December as part of the budget process, councllors review all car parking charges in West Devon.
'Councillors have always been clear that they want to keep the pay and display charges below the average in the rest of Devon to ensure that West Devon is competitive and to encourage people to come to Tavistock and Okehampton to support the local economy.'
Mr Morgan admitted the level of fines was within the higher range in Devon.
'Again, councillors have taken a decision that they would rather raise the necessary income this way from people who have parked illegally than penalise the 99.7 per cent of people who have parked correctly.'
From April 1 this year, West Devon Council increased the penalty from £50 to £60, reduced to £40 if the fine is paid within 14 days. The increases are expected to generate an additional £14,500 for 2000/01.
According to West Devon's media officer, Alison Stoneham, the income from car parking reduces the amount of council tax paid by every householder by £17 a year.
The Times rang round the 13 other city, borough and district councils in Devon and Cornwall and can reveal that West Devon's reduced fixed penalty is the highest in the two counties. Torbay is the only council with a higher fine (£75) but even that is reduced to £35 if paid within five days.