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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Shannen Headley

Land Rover driver hits back after being savagely mocked over 'selfish' parking

The driver of a Land Rover Defender who hit back after being mocked for "selfish" parking has been criticised again.

The man claimed that blocking a pavement was only to make his 74-year-old wife's trip to the shop more convenient, following serious surgery.

However, harsh critics were quick to point out that he could have gone to the shop instead of his wife and parked sensibly at the same time.

But one supportive reader said: "His wife has the right to go to the shops like the rest of us".

While the driver highlighted the area lacked disabled parking bays - others responded to say he could have parked the vehicle on the double yellow lines and displayed his blue badge.

The incident, in Birstall, made headlines after LeicestershireLive reported the saga.

Wishing to remain anonymous, the driver said he remained inside the vehicle the entire time - but many readers have hit out saying there are "no excuses".

The driver said he had parked as close as he could to a shop his 74-year-old wife needed to visit due to her limited mobility caused by osteoarthritis and recovery from a recent surgery.

He told LeicestershireLive: "I parked in this spot near the toilets which have been closed now for nearly two years.

"My wife has osteoarthritis and it is a condition that causes joints to become painful and stiff.

"This means I have to help her in and out the Land Rover and she can not walk very far at all without having to sit down a lot, which is why she has a walker to help her walk and sit down if she needs to, and we have to take this around with us.

"She is 74 years of age and has not long been out of hospital properly, around 10 days or so ago, as she has had her gallbladder removed.

"So it is still early days to be walking too far. The operation was life-threatening and she was rushed into hospital for this."

But one reader questioned: "If she has mobility problems then she could/would have a blue badge allowing him to park on the double yellows because it doesn’t have the two strips on the kerb stopping him", while another added: "What a load of c**p. No-one has the right to park like he did".

The original Facebook post called out the driver for causing a potential safety hazard.

It said: "Another example of idiot parking. Wouldn't normally bother taking a picture but he had two other options of places to park and he parks right next to wall.

"There are kids about, it's school holidays, we teach them not to cross behind a parked car and people like this give us no choice."

"It's high time parking on pavements was made illegal. Nightmare for mums with pushchairs, partially sighted, wheelchair users, people with disabilities etc. Pavements are for pedestrians not cars", said another reader.

The driver added: "My wife only nipped in to get a card from the shop that was around 60 feet away and she was only gone five to 10 minutes but if anyone disabled in a wheelchair or a pram had come along I would have moved my vehicle out of the way for them."

One reader jumped to the driver's defence, writing: "Reading his reply he was there for about five-10 minutes.

"And he stayed in the car so if it had to move for pedestrians or prams he would have done.

"His wife is almost infirmed but still has a right to go out to the shops as much as the rest of us.

"If it was only there for a few minutes then just leave it and be glad of our own mobility and health that we can get around. Leave the fella alone. Nation of parking wardens".

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