A woman who received a parking fine after a fall on her way back to her vehicle made her late, has said there needs to be more awareness about disabled people after an appeal was turned down twice.
Jeanne was given a £100 fine for being 16 minutes late getting back to the Kingston Shopping Centre car park in Hull.
She said she had a fall and her heart condition meant she had to wait before driving again, Hull Live reports.
In her first appeal to Smart Parking, she hadn't remembered the fall as the fine notice was issued a month after the contravention, but in a further appeal to an independent authority she was turned down even after describing the circumstances.
Smart Parking have now cancelled the charge as a gesture of goodwill after hearing about Jeanne's ordeal on the day of the fine, which happened last year.
Jeanne said: "Disabled people take a bit longer doing things anyway and lots of shops still had Covid restrictions at that time so it was only one or two in at a time.
"I had a fall going back to the car park because of my mobility, when I got to the car I had to wait for my heart to calm down because I have a condition and it wouldn't have been safe to drive."
After Jeanne's initial appeal against the fine was turned down she turned to Parking on Private Land Appeals (POPLA) with the full details of her fall but was turned down once again.
Her fine was upped to £170 with final notices being sent with warnings of bailiff action if she did not pay up.
She said she would go to court to fight the fine which she felt showed a lack of compassion to disabled motorists.
Jeanne said: "There needs to be a bit more understanding and a bit more empathy from these companies when it comes to blue badge holders, it isn't fair and it's not right. "
A Smart Parking spokesperson said: “Smart Parking operate a BPA audited appeals service, and we encourage motorists to contact us if they feel they have been incorrectly charged.
"Ms Young did appeal to us, but made no mention of having an accident, but instead said she assumed parking was free for 2 hours.
"This is not the case and is clearly highlighted on numerous signs positioned around the car park. In light of this we rejected her appeal.
"She subsequently contacted the independent appeals service POPLA, who also rejected her appeal.
"However, now we have been given this additional information we have cancelled the charge as an act of goodwill."
