Maternity worker’s fury at parking fine

A MATERNITY support worker at Worthing Hospital has expressed her anger at being given a parking fine while visiting a new mother.
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Parking Fine in Beach Green Shoreham. Midwife Theresa Smytherman with parking ticketsS23657H13

Parking Fine in Beach Green Shoreham. Midwife Theresa Smytherman with parking tickets
S23657H13 Parking Fine in Beach Green Shoreham. Midwife Theresa Smytherman with parking tickets

A MATERNITY support worker at Worthing Hospital has expressed her anger at being given a parking fine while visiting a new mother.

Teresa Smytherman, 56, of Queen Street, Worthing was making a home call to a new mother at a Shoreham houseboat when she received the penalty charge notice (PCN).

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Mrs Smytherman said she had made visits to the area on numerous occasions, and holds a two-hour healthcare permit that enables her to park on roads.

On this visit, she said she had driven through a public car park and parked on the road that runs alongside the houseboats, so she could collect a piece of equipment she had left with the mother.

When she returned to her car, she found a parking warden speaking to woman and placing a ticket on her car. Mrs Smytherman said: “Apparently, the lady and warden had been discussing whose car it was that he had just given a ticket to, and to quote the traffic warden, ‘guessed it was a health worker as my diary was on the passenger seat’. He apologised for the ticket and showed me how to appeal.”

However, when Mrs Smytherman’s manager appealed and explained that she was working at the time, her appeal was refused. She appealed again, but to no avail. The first letter of refusal said the permit did not cover her in Adur, while the second stated she could park in West Sussex but not in public car parks.

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Mrs Smytherman said she was not parked in a car park, but on a ‘stony road full of potholes’, a place her and her colleagues often parked.

The parking ticket also stated that her car was seen at 10.58am and the ticket was given at 11.02am. She said she was at the visit for about ten minutes.

Mrs Smytherman, added: “I feel I should not have to pay this fine and feel very let down by the parking authority. I’m so angry and it is so frustrating when I just want to do my job.’

A spokeswoman for Adur council said: “We can confirm this lady was parked in an off-street parking area, off the public highway.

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“The PCN was issued correctly and the area is covered by an off-street parking order owned by the district council.

“Her permit is only valid on-street which is governed by West Sussex County Council.”

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