A frustrated shopper and her disabled husband have hit out at parking enforcement officers for not ticketing vehicles that were unloading in parking spaces reserved for blue badge holders.
The woman, who has chosen to remain anonymous, contacted Wokingham Today after the latest incident earlier this month.
She said: “My husband, a disabled driver, was again not able to park once in the disabled spaces outside WHSmiths, opposite Wokingham town hall.
“This is not the first time we have been unable to park due to vans unloading.
“In the summer we parked further down outside Robert Dyas, in the commercial vehicle bay, and had to pay a £30 fine for five minutes.
“The disabled spaces were occupied by unloading vehicles, so we parked in the unloading bay which was empty.”
In the latest incident she raised her concerns with the enforcement officer, but he failed to act.
“We drove round the town three times, and the vans were still being unloaded.”
The woman added: “It seems unfair that pensioners with disabled badges are unfairly treated.
“A £30 is a lot of money, due to the failure of the parking attendant to do their jobs.”
She added that she felt the process of appealing a fine was onerous and complicated, especially for pensioners who may not have access to the internet.
In reply, Paul Fishwick, Wokingham Borough Council’s executive member for active travel, transport and highways, said: “We’re sorry to hear about this.
“Our enforcement officers enforce the parking regulations and will ticket anyone, in this case incorrectly, in loading and disabled bays to dissuade drivers from preventing people legitimately wanting to use the bays.
“Our enforcement officers work across the borough and are not always in locations to move vehicles on or issue penalty charge notices.
“We expect all of our employees and contractors to treat everyone politely and with respect and all of our enforcement officers undergo training on a regular basis.”
He added that information about how to pay or appeal a parking fine is on the ticket, and you can challenge a parking charge notice either online or by post.
