Driver fined £200 after parking in disabled space for 83 seconds despite showing blue badge

A blue badge holder has spoken out after he was issued with a £200 fine for parking in a disabled spot for just 83 seconds.

Garry White faced a two-year-old ordeal after briefly leaving his car at Midland Way Retail Park in Nottingham, despite showing an enforcement officer his blue badge.

He parked up at the Midland Way Retail Park in Radford for less than two minutes in 2018 while he left his car to read a parking entrance sign.

But as he turned around he was shocked to see a private parking enforcement officer writing him up a ticket.

The 53-year-old said he showed the parking enforcement officer his blue badge - confirming that he had the right to park in a disabled zone - before being told he would still have to pay a fine.

As a person suffering with spinal stenosis - which Garry describes as arthritis in his back - he often has trouble walking.

In total, 83 seconds passed between Garry leaving his car and being given a ticket, he claims.

Mr White, who now lives in Ilkeston, said: "Basically I drove in and when I drove in I wasn't aware there was an entrance sign and that said 'private land' but obviously you can't stop as you're driving so I carried on driving and parked up.

"So I walked up to the sign, I'm disabled so I was a bit slow and methodical, and I walked over to the sign to read it, looked back and there was a guy ticketing my car.

"On a video from my dash-cam you can see it was 83 seconds between me leaving my car and them ticketing me.

"So I went back to the car with my blue badge in my hand - if you go to some places like Asda, if you just show them your badge they leave you alone.

"So I'm showing him my badge and he says that I would be going to CCJ [County Court Judgement] if I didn't pay it.

"Basically I just thought this is nonsense, got in my car and drove off.

Mr White added: "It was about a week later I got a letter through the post - this was in February 2018 and basically it just rumbled on from there.

"I've got my badge, I sent them a copy of it and they just wrote back saying 'appeal rejected. We know you have a badge but you should have displayed it.

"The court case had to be delayed because I've had issues with my spine and I had to have a hip replacement."

The initial fine of £60 eventually reached more than £200 by the time Garry found himself in court.

A judge at Derby Combined Court Centre eventually dismissed the claims made by the private parking company, Vehicle Control Services, when Garry showed dash-cam footage of the incident that happened not far from the University of Nottingham.

Following months of delays the matter was finally resolved in the county court, where Garry was awarded £1,000 in costs and damages.

"Finally it went ahead about three weeks ago via video link on the computer," he said.

"I sent the court a link to this video that I uploaded on Youtube.

"It took the judge less than ten minutes to dismiss the claim."

He added: "It went on for two-and-a-half years, it was just ridiculous."

The government's rules on Blue Badges states: "The Blue Badge scheme helps those with severe mobility problems who have difficulty using public transport to park close to where they need to go."