Parking mad after three-year dispute

Sandra faces having to pay despite honest mistake

An elderly blue badge motorist from Airdrie has hit out at council bosses after a three-year-long parking fine dispute.

Sandra Stevenson, 72, was fined for parking in a Glasgow city centre bay in November 2015 for a total of 15 minutes, with the local authority claiming her disability badge wasn’t visible.

She informed Glasgow City Council she had held a blue badge for almost 15 years, having experienced two painstaking spinal operations after fibromyalgia and other illnesses left her in agony.

But Sandra claims the council were dismissive and stated the fee still stood because her badge wasn’t properly displayed, leaving her fearful over the potential cost.

Sandra said: “Originally I thought somebody had cloned my card, because there wasn’t a ticket left on my car.

“But it turns out somebody had removed it from my car.

“If I had seen the ticket, I would’ve found the parking attendant and shown my badge but I called the number on the ticket and explained if my badge wasn’t visible it must’ve fallen or something.

“They wouldn’t listen. They want £60. There are people who use badges illegally they’re not catching but want £60 from me over an accident.”

Sandra appealed but the decision was upheld.

However, she was stunned to receive a letter on August 11 demanding she pay up or risk the fee being increased.

She said: “If I don’t pay it within a fortnight it’ll go up. It’s ridiculous. I couldn’t believe it when it came in.

“I wasn’t fit to go for the review because I am disabled. I had to have two spinal surgeries because the bone was digging into the nerves in my spine and I have days in constant pain.

“I barely drive but I recently stopped a parking attendant who was checking my badge.

“He told me he once stopped a person who had been using the card of a deceased person. That’s who they should be after, not me.”

Sandra worked in several production roles, often being required to carry out heavy lifting and travelling over the country, prior to taking on a job at a cystic fibrosis charity following her daughter Lynne’s diagnosis.

She was forced into early retirement at 59 after being diagnosed with the nervous system condition fibromyalgia.

However, she continues to volunteer for the charity in her daughter’s memory. Lynne died in 1984 shortly before Christmas aged just 16.

She said: “I’ve worked my butt off all my life, now I just don’t know what to do. They’ve said if I don’t pay it by this week it’ll go up.

“I can’t afford it but if I have to pay it, I’ll have to pay it. I can’t believe it’s gone on this long.

“I just think it’s disgusting. I feel like I’ve been singled out.”

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said: “This parking ticket has been through all the appeals system with the independent adjudicator upholding the original decision.

“The rules clearly state that blue badges need to be displayed at all times.”

Stunned Sandra feels like she has been “singled out” by Glasgow City Council