A man fined £100 after rushing to a shopping centre to pick up his disabled mother who had fallen ill has urged a parking company to “show some compassion”.
Darren Hayhurst, from Ash, near Canterbury in Kent, has had two parking appeals rejected despite him insisting the incident was an emergency and leaving his car unattended for just 15 minutes.
His 70-year-old mother Rita Armstrong, who is registered disabled, suffers from vertigo and experienced an episode at the Charlton Shopping Centre in Dover, Kent.
Mr Hayhurst, 46, rushed to the scene and left his car for 15 minutes in a multi-storey car park managed using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras.
He placed his elderly mum’s Blue Badge on the dashboard but received a fine in the post from Civil Enforcement Limited two days later.
Mr Hayhurst, who is a full-time carer for his mother, believes he shouldn’t be fined simply for rushing to pick her up and says he wasn’t aware of restrictions, having never parked there before.
“A disabled pensioner has fallen ill and I’ve had to rush her home,” he said. “Why should I be fined for that?
“I’ve never parked there in my life so I wasn’t fully aware of the restrictions. This was an emergency so I was just thinking about getting my mum home as soon as possible.”
Mr Hayhurst has since appealed his fine to Civil Enforcement Limited and Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) – an independent appeals service for parking charge notices – but both his appeals have been rejected.
“I just think they should show some compassion under the circumstances,” he continued. “I am more than happy to pay the original price of the parking ticket.
“But £100 for a 15-minute stay which was due to an emergency is just ridiculous.”
Darren’s mother has suffered from vertigo since 2012 and suffers regular episodes which can make her ‘violently sick’ and sometimes render her bedbound for days.
The pensioner, who also has fibromyalgia and uses a wheelchair, rarely leaves the house due to her condition and was very upset by her son’s fine – which has left her feeling like she doesn’t want to leave the house anymore.
“I don’t go out very often at all because I never know when one of these spells will come on,” Ms Armstrong said.
“When it happens I need to get home as soon as possible. I just don’t want to go out anymore.”
After the incident in August Mr Hayhurst has vowed to never visit the shopping centre again, adding: “Since both of the appeals have been rejected, our next step is to potentially take this matter to court.
“I’ve given them all the relevant details about my mum’s health and they still won’t budge. We both feel very let down.”
Local Conservative councillor Martin Porter says he is in ‘full support’ of the pair regarding the parking fine and is urging for it to be withdrawn.
The multi-storey car park at the back of the Charlton Shopping Centre has been earmarked as a potential site for a hundred new homes in Dover District Council’s Local Plan agreed last month.
The entire site, including the 28,609 sq ft mall, was set to go up for an auction next week – for a freehold guide price of between £1.8m and £2m – but has now been withdrawn for a second time.
A spokesperson from judicially independent POPLA, said: “POPLA is an independent appeals assessor.
“Our role is to determine whether a parking charge notice (PCN) was issued correctly in accordance with relevant laws and codes of practice, based on evidence provided by both parties.
“When reviewing this appeal POPLA assessed that the PCN was issued correctly. We could not uphold the appeal based on mitigating circumstances.”
Private car parks can charge drivers for disabled parking, with government guidance stating: “Off-street car park operators should provide parking spaces for disabled people.
“However, it is up to the car park owner to decide whether badge holders can park free of charge. Do not assume you can always park for free.”
