Pensioner wins battle over fine

A pensioner who spent months appealing a Bath hospital parking fine has finally had his charge overturned.

Frank Cottle, of Richmond Heights in Lansdown, successfully had his £80 fine from Parking Eye rescinded after incurring the charge in October when he took his wife, Carol, to the Royal United Hospital.

The 80-year-old, inset, claimed he was told by a surgeon to go to the hospital pharmacy to pick up medication for Mrs Cottle, who was recovering from a hysterectomy operation, which led to her picking up cystitis (inflammation of the bladder).

Parking Eye said he exceeded the 20-minute wait in the parking area, but Mr Cottle said that was because there was a delay in collecting the prescription.

In a letter in the Bath Chronicle Mr Cottle said the fine had finally been cancelled and that he couldn’t understand the criticism of a man who doubted his story.

The letter reads: “I cannot understand the continued criticism by M. Whitemore of my dilemma in parking at the front of the RUH.

“My wife was categorically told that if she presented herself at the pharmacy, her prescription would be ‘ready and waiting.’ “On that basis I stopped at the front of the RUH in the belief that I would only be there for a few minutes.

“We had no way of predicting a backlog of prescriptions to be dispensed.

“This brought about the delay and had I moved my car to the car park, I could not expect my wife to go searching for me when she had only been discharged some four days before, following major abdominal surgery.

“I was clearly between a ‘rock and a hard place’ and eventually Parking Eye agreed and cancelled the PCN.”

Mr Whitemore previously wrote in the Bath Chronicle (February 13) that he sympathised with Mr Cottle but said parking there for 30 minutes was ‘out of order.’

Parking Eye confirmed the fine was cancelled last month.