Disabled woman, 76, gets £70 parking tickets in 'daily battle' with enforcement

Maria Rodriguez has lived successful her location for 23 years and says she has complained for 5 years astir the deficiency of due parking - and has racked up a fig of tickets successful the meantime

A disabled pistillate who, astatine the property of 76, has grown to dread parking extracurricular of her ain home. This is due to the fact that Maria Rodriquez alleges that she is forced to permission her car connected the thoroughfare extracurricular her location owed to her condition, but keeps getting slapped with £70 parking fines for doing so.

The 76-year-old says that she has been asking the assembly for 5 years to crook the treble yellowish lines extracurricular her location into a disabled parking bay, but has yet to get anywhere. In the meantime, the fig of yellowish parking fines slapped connected the Liverpool resident's car continues to heap up.

Sefton Council has defended the fines issued to Ms Rodriguez, stating they are successful enactment with nationalist enforcement guidelines concerning parking regulations. However, Maria argues that these rules are excessively strictly enforced and neglect to see her idiosyncratic situation.

The Liverpool Echo reports that the punishment complaint notices fixed to Maria are a effect of incorrectly show of her bluish badge and clip card. Yet, for Maria, who speaks English arsenic a 2nd language, she asserts she was instructed to presumption the bluish badge connected the side.

When asked if the explanations could person been misunderstood owed to connection barriers, Maria concurred but insisted that she had explained her concern and circumstances to officials.

A Blue Badge is simply a parking licence enabling individuals with disabilities to parkland nearer to their destination than modular parking spaces. Maria successfully applied for a Blue Badge and utilises it regular arsenic she goes astir her play tasks. However, the issues statesman erstwhile she gets backmost location and struggles to find a parking spot.

She revealed that owed to the lack of a disabled parking bay, she's often compelled to parkland distant from her house. Maria expressed her frustration, saying: 'I'm conscionable bushed of each this due to the fact that I support getting £70 fines for parking extracurricular my ain house. How tin this be?

"I person lived present for 23 years and I retrieve the time that this [parking situation] changed. A instrumentality came to bash the yellowish lines conscionable connected the country - obscurity else. I had been asking for the disabled bay for galore years but they didn't bash that."

Maria, who is registered arsenic disabled and has mobility issues affecting her independency and movement, relies heavy connected her car and needs parking adjacent her beforehand door. Without nonmigratory oregon disabled bay parking, Maria said her beingness has turned into a regular struggle.

Maria added: "There are radical that don't recognize that [the request for due parking for drivers with disabilities]. If radical had idiosyncratic successful their family, they would astir apt recognize and they could marque their dependable heard louder than excavation due to the fact that I unrecorded unsocial and it's hard to get radical to listen.

When asked if she feels the assembly has made an effort to comprehend her request for accessible parking and to clarify show guidance, Maria responded: "Well, the question is precise interesting.

"I contacted the assembly to explain, but each they accidental is that this [fine] needs to beryllium paid.

A spokesperson for Sefton Council highlighted the strict regulations surrounding Blue Badge use, saying: "There are a fig of nationally acceptable rules and responsibilities that indispensable beryllium adhered to erstwhile utilizing a Blue Badge.

"One of those rules states that each Blue Badge holders indispensable guarantee their badges oregon clip clocks are displayed correctly and made disposable successful the conveyance they are using, careless of wherever they park.

"If this is not done truthful past a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) whitethorn beryllium issued. ".