Martha McCrone believes she doesn’t deserve the £30 fine (Picture: Ayrshire Post/Media Scotland)
A woman has accused a parking attendant of ‘cruelty’ after being fined £30 for leaving her car for ‘minutes’ to collect a steak pie for her disabled mum.
Martha McCrone says there were no disabled bays available, so she parked in a loading bay and popped two doors down to Pollok Williamson’s butchers in Ayr, Scotland.
But she got back to find a parking warden ‘with a smug look on his face’ beside her vehicle.
The angry driver has said ‘I can’t believe I was booked when just going into the butchers to collect a steak pie’.
She has defended suggestions that she may have abused her mum’s blue badge after leaving elderly mother Agnes, who is blind and uses a wheelchair, in the car to grab the ready-made order.
Scottish law says that if the Blue Badge holder is not getting out of the vehicle, they should not use it to get a parking space.
They cannot park in loading/unloading bays, unless signs specify time limits for badge holders.
Speaking about the incident on November 4, Martha said: ‘It was at 4pm and it was pouring of rain. I have a blue badge for my mum but there was no disabled bays at all.
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‘There was work going on at the other side of the road. I parked in a loading bay and walked two doors down to the shop.
‘When I got back the attendant was there. I went up and tried to explain. He had a smug look on his face.
‘He just ignored everything I had told him, he just said “will I hand you it or will I stick it on the car”. I thought it was just so cruel and evil to do that really.’
Ayrshire Roads Alliance has warned non-disabled people should not ‘take advantage’ of their parking benefits while the blue badge holder sits in the car.
But Martha said: ‘I don’t abuse the blue badge but there wasn’t any available spaces and I was in the shop less than a minute.
‘It would have taken me 10 minutes to get my mum out the car and into a wheelchair.
‘The whole thing has really put me off coming into town. There is not enough spaces available and it is more hassle than what it is worth.’
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It comes as other locals in Ayr complain of a fine-happy parking attendant.
Business owners on Newmarket Street previously fumed after being on the receiving end of countless bookings.
Commenting on Martha’s case, a spokesperson for Ayrshire Roads Alliance said: ‘Blue Badge holders are entitled to park in many places which are normally off limits, however there are rules which the holders must adhere to.
‘One of the rules is that holders should not allow non-disabled people to take advantage of their parking benefits while they sit in the car.’
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Martha McCrone has defended accusations that she abused her mum’s blue badge.
