A good Samaritan said he was given a £155 parking ticket after he waited for an ambulance with a pensioner who had broken her hip.
Alastair Kelly, 45, was on his lunch break in Cowes, Isle of Wight, during the summer when he noticed that the elderly woman, who he described as partially blind, had fallen and hurt herself.
He called an ambulance, which took more than two hours to arrive, but on returning to his car discovered that he had received a parking ticket. He had parked outside M&S in Cowes, Isle of Wight, to buy a sandwich during his break on June 15.
He said: “It’s big source of frustration when you are being fined for doing a good deed. I just don’t understand how I can be fined for this.”
The warehouse manager said he immediately stopped to help the woman when she fell because he has first aid training, adding: “The woman was partially blind and in her nineties, and had broken her hip.”
‘It’s extremely unfair’
Believing the circumstances would exempt him from the fine dished out by parking company Euro Car Parks, which he said offered an hour of free parking, Mr Kelly then appealed.
“It specified the grounds on the website allowing you to appeal. One of them was extreme circumstances where you had to give evidence of a medical emergency, which prevented you from returning to your vehicle. I thought that’s bang on.”
He supplied the company with call logs to show he was providing medical assistance and waiting for an ambulance but was shocked to be told it would be rejecting his appeal. As he did not pay the initial £50 fine, it had been increased to £155.
Mr Kelly said: “I just want to raise awareness about this. It’s extremely unfair. The actual event itself in dealing with [a] first aid crisis is very stressful, then to have this on top is even worse.
“When I called 999, they specifically told me to stay with the patient. I couldn’t just say to the lady, ‘Do you mind just waiting while I go move my car?’”
Mr Kelly, who has since paid the fine because he did not want his credit score to be impacted, said he spoke to a local councillor about challenging the ticket in court. However, he was advised it would cost more than the fine itself.
Euro Car Parks has been contacted for comment.