An elderly couple who both have cancer were wrongly hit with a £70 parking charge at Pitlochry’s Co-op store.
Ronnie Robertson, 77, and his wife Mary were penalised for parking 17 minutes longer than the maximum one hour allowed.
But the Co-op vowed to cancel the fine after we brought it to their attention – and admitted restrictions should not have been applied to blue badge holders.
The Glasgow couple stopped off to buy themselves a week’s worth of groceries en route to a holiday at Kinloch Rannoch.
Ronnie was recovering from surgery for prostate cancer while Mary has been undergoing breast cancer treatment, as well as also being physically impaired from childhood polio.
They were parked in a disabled space with their blue badge clearly visible.
“We both walk very slowly due to our limited mobility,” Ronnie said.
“After we paid at the cash desk we came directly out to our car, emptied our trolley and drove off.
“After our holiday we got home and received a parking notice.
“It`s ludicrous the Co-op was charging its elderly and disabled customers £70 for not shopping fast enough within their store.”
Parking company ‘given carte blanche’
The holidaymakers say they have stopped off at the Pitlochry Co-op in previous years without penalty.
But they reckon the rules may have tightened since a private company, Horizon Parking, began administering parking charges.
“I would have thought in the first place that anyone parking in a disabled bay would be allowed more than the statutory hour,” Ronnie said.
“It doesn’t reflect well on the Co-op that they have given carte blanche to a parking company.
“We can understand the argument that they don’t want people parking there all day.
“But they should take into account people using blue badge spaces.”
‘I am walking very very slowly’
Mary explained one of the reasons they went on holiday was for Ronnie to recuperate after his surgery.
She added: “I have been having treatment for breast cancer, which is debilitating by itself.
“I also had polio when I was younger and have limited ability to walk. I go very slowly.
“As much as it might not seem a large store to the average person, I am not whizzing round.
“I am walking very very slowly, holding on to a trolley
“It is also, of course, a strange store so you don’t know where everything is so shopping takes a lot longer. We didn’t think we were on a clock.
“To be charged £70 is altogether ludicrous. If they’d have looked at CCTV cameras in the store they could have seen us shopping.
“You go up to holiday in Perthshire and this is what you get. You go into the friendly Co-op local store, pick up groceries and get hit with a £70 fine.
“That’s a huge amount for an elderly person of our age. I am disgusted.”
Fine rescinded
The couple had begun the process of appealing the fine when they got in touch with The Courier.
We contacted Co-op, who pledged to rescind the penalty notice.
A spokesperson said: “We are very sorry for any concern and confusion caused.
“We have contacted our car park operator and the parking notice has now been cancelled. As a blue badge holder, restrictions do not apply.
“While it is sometimes necessary for us to manage car parks to ensure space remains available for our customers, Co-op works to do this fairly and, wherever possible, for the benefit of the wider community too.”
