Hospital staff delayed in bid to fight parking fines

DOCTORS and nurses planning to appeal a court ruling ordering them to pay thousands of pounds in fines could miss the deadline.

More than 70 medical staff from the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff were told they must pay £128 for every ticket they had incurred and pay court costs of between £26,000 and £29,000.

Sue Prior, of Taff Ely Parking Action Group, has been helping them in their battle against parking giant Indigo, the firm that runs parking at Wales’ biggest hospital.

Staff lost their fight over three days at Cardiff’s civil justice court this month. The court examined three cases, with the result being binding on a further 72 cases. The average bill for each staff member is £900.

So far the staff have raised almost £5,000 from a crowdfunder to help them pay to appeal.

“We have gone with Barristers4U,” Sue said. “They are arranging a system where the staff will only have to pay for court fees and whatnot.”

She said they still do not know whether they have grounds to appeal.

“We are trying to get hold of the written judgement,” she said. “We are going to have to try and get an extension on the appeal. We have communicated with the court and they have not got the transcript, so we have been prohibited from accessing resources.

“No barrister will go into court until they have seen the judgement.”

There are still a further 16,000 parking fines Indigo has outstanding.