A WIDNES pensioner says he is prepared to go to prison to protest over an unjust hospital parking penalty.

Cancer patient Brian Eldred is adamant he paid £3 when he visited his oncology consultant at Warrington Hospital.
He is the latest in a spate of angry drivers contesting £75 penalty charges they have received from Highview Parking, the company that operates car parks at Warrington and Halton hospitals.

Halton Cllr Dave Thompson branded the charges an ‘exploitive sick tax’ levied on the ‘most vulnerable, frail, elderly and ill’ patients.

He has started a social media site to scrap the parking penalties and it has received 400 likes in just three days.

He has written to chief executive Mel Pickup pressing her to urgently review the ‘aggressive parking regime’.

Brian, of Deepdale, Hough Green, was shocked to receive a demand for £75 on Monday.

He said: “I was absolutely livid. I definitely paid. I had to go back to my car to check my registration and get change. I wish I had kept my ticket.

“They can lock me up and I will go to prison. Under no circumstances and I going to pay this fine.”

He has written to appeal after being unable to speak to anyone on the phone.

Halton Lea Cllr Thompson said: “This automatic number plate recognition (APNR) is guaranteed to cause upset, distress and misery for patients.

“Fixed penalty notices are routinely issued to people for accidentally entering car registration numbers wrongly.

“If visitors don’t pay the demand there is the added threat of administration and court costs.

He believes a barrier system like the one at Whiston Hospital is much fairer, where ‘nobody leaves unless you pay’.

“This is a sick tax,” he said.

He said he set up the Facebook page Scrap Parking Penalties at Halton and Warrington Hospitals to help patients and visitors.

He added: “It is there to support and help patients and provide some focus for the many that are affronted by the effects of the new system.”

Staff have also been penalised.

Tony Hanley posted: “The wife is a nurse. She has a set amount taken from her wages every month. She received a parking fine for parking 11 hours 31 minutes.”

Wendy Bastow said: “My dad got a £75 ticket. He had three visits in one week and paid £3 each time.

“Been so worked up about it. Is that right for someone who has a heart condition of 76?”

A spokesman for Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “If anyone thinks that they have received a parking charge notice in error they can appeal directly to Highview Parking.

“The appeals process is fair and takes into account extenuating personal circumstances and any genuine human error.

“We have found that the main reasons for people receiving parking charge notices has been not entering their full registration or not paying for the time that they have used.

“The ANPR system starts as soon as you enter the hospital grounds.

“The pictures of vehicles issued parking charge notices are of the car entering and leaving the hospital site and not whilst parked.”

He said Warrington cancer patients can park free if they present their appointment letter to the general office.

Concessions are also available for patients and visitors who need to attend over an extended period.