A dad was slapped with a £40 parking fine after he rushed his 'screaming' four-year-old daughter to hospital – but says there is "no way" he will pay up.
John Wiffen, from Essex, was not thinking about parking when he brought his daughter Jessica to A&E at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.
The dad-of-two picked up his daughter from school after receiving a call to say she was feeling unwell, Essex Live reported .
The 47-year-old decided to take matters into his own hands when he was told he would have to wait up to two hours for an ambulance.
John claimed he had parked his car in an area that wasn’t a designated space but said he had not caused any obstruction.
“I got a call from the school so I went round there and they had called an ambulance. They said it would be two hours until I even got a call back but she was screaming in agony,” John said.
“I decided to just take her so we went to A&E and I parked outside and asked if someone could come out and help me but the hospital said it was against their policy.
“I parked my car next to another car. It wasn’t in a space but there was room for me to carry her from the car and into the hospital. I wasn’t blocking anyone.”
John was horrified that he had been given a £40 parking ticket from Gemini Parking Solutions, who run the hospital car park, when he returned.
“We found out she had broken her elbow. I couldn’t leave her,” John continued.
“It was 120 minutes before even getting a call back about the ambulance. I understand the emergency services are busy but I had to do their job and take her there.
“She could barely move, I wanted to get her as there as fast as possible. I didn’t know what was wrong with her or how serious it was.
“It was the last thing I needed. The car park should be there for people using it or going there in an emergency. There is no way I am paying the ticket.”
John has sent a letter of appeal to Gemini outlining why he will not pay the fine.
The director of Gemini Parking Solutions, Ryan Jackson, said that they will look into mitigating circumstances and always try to do the “right thing.”
He said: “Any scenario whereby there is mitigating circumstances then we would always investigate and make sure the PCN is removed.
“When we receive the appeal, it will go through the process and it would be removed.
“We run a significant number of hospital car parks and anytime an appeal is made due to an emergency situation we would look into that as it can be sensitive.
“At the moment, we respond to people within three or four days depending on when it is received. Worst case scenario is within seven days.
“From our part, we would always look to do that right thing in this situation. It is just extremely unfortunate that they have received the parking charge notice.
“The last thing they need is a parking notice, it’s a very unfortunate situation.”
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