A DISABLED driver was left infuriated when she was fined for parking in a permit holder’s bay at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, despite disabled bays apparently being occupied by able-bodied staff cars.

The complaint comes despite an increase earlier this year in the number of disabled bays in car park seven, the one nearest to the hospital.

Mrs Vivien Norrie, from Montrose, was visiting her terminally ill father earlier this week with her mother. Both Mrs Norrie and her mother have difficulty walking.

She said, “I tried to park in one of the many designated disabled bays, but they were all taken up by permit holders. I managed to squeeze into a space—a permit holders’ space, I had no choice.

“I had quite a long walk to the main door of the hospital, and was shattered by the time my mother and I got there.

“We were speechless as well as breathless when we returned to the car and saw there was a penalty notice. We had passed numerous cars with permit holders parked in disabled bays, but no penalty notices for them!

“Where are disabled drivers to park when all disabled bays are taken up by able-bodied permit holders?”

Mrs Norrie has issued with a £10 fine but was allowed to pay £5 because she paid within seven days.

“My father is terminally ill and now my mother and I can’t go to visit at our usual time for fear of risking another penalty,” she added.

Ninewells site manager Brian Main explained that changes were introduced shortly after the car park contract was transferred from previous operators APCOA to Vinci Park in May this year.

He said, “We have recently extended the number of disabled bays in car park seven from 44 to 72.

“The new company did this at no extra cost to the hospital despite the fact that they were losing paying permit holder bays.

“We very rarely have problems now. There was a major problem with disabled parking and that was one of the first things that we looked at when Vinci Park started.

“Within a week or two we had agreed to increase the number of disabled bays—it now stands at nearly the whole of car park seven.

“This has seen a dramatic improvement. I regularly walk through the car park and often come across several empty disabled bays so there has been a major improvement.

“This is an issue that we are always looking at and we have meetings with the company every two months, and include traffic police and ambulance service staff, as well as councillors and their constituents.

“We do look to take account of people’s views, and it is important that things are constantly reviewed.”

A spokesperson for Vinci Park said, “Vinci Park UK has increased the disabled parking at Ninewells by 30% since it commenced its operations. Car park patrols are conducted regularly (every 20-30 minutes), especially in areas with disabled parking bays.

“Mrs Norrie may have arrived between patrols but we can assure her that anyone parked on a disabled bay would have received a ticket.

“Disabled parking is an issue that Vinci Park feels very strongly about and we intend to further increase the number of disabled bays available.

“Vinci Park UK would also like to ensure that people are fully aware of the free courtesy bus service, which runs at 15-minute intervals, stopping at the hospital main entrance, East Block, TORT Centre and car park 9.

“This is a flexible service, which can cater for additional stops and alternative routes depending on passenger requirements.”