Shola Lee
A husband got hit with a parking fine after travelling to see his dying wife, despite already having a permit.
Brian Foote's world was turned upside down when his wife, Nahruma Ahmed, 46, was diagnosed with leukaemia in 2021.
Brian thought that parking would be the last of his issues when he went to the Manchester Royal Infirmary after his wife was taken to A&E on 20 June.
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Amid the chaos, the devoted dad even stopped to sort parking, having spent much of the last year doing the just that: "By the time I left it was about 11.30 pm. The next day I spoke to the haematology department and asked for an updated and backdated car pass which is completely normal.
"They did so and I took it straight to the car parking staff at the barrier. I gave them the pass, said it had been signed by the hospital and backdated, so they filled out the rest of it."
As you can imagine this quickly dropped to the back of Brain's mind as his wife continued to get worse.
Unfortunately, on 28 June Nahruma passed away and Brian and his family began to grieve the unimaginable loss.
So, the last thing that they needed was an unexpected bill shifting through their door.
Still, that's what he received as according to the hospital company Parkingeye, Brian didn't have valid parking and was issued a £35 fine.
He received the first letter on 7 July, but he understandably didn't have time to dispute the issue: "I had lost my partner on June 28 so I didn’t open or deal with it, I just left it in a pile of letters.
“I got another letter in August asking for £70 which I responded to on August 25 and forwarded them the screenshot from my phone and explained the circumstances.
“I said they could see the pass was dated from June 20. I haven’t done anything wrong, please confirm this matter is resolved.
The litigation executive explained the dreadful experience, saying that he doesn't want 'sympathy' but that he hasn't 'done anything wrong'.
Things went from bad to worse when on 21 September Brian 'received a letter threatening court as they’ve declined the official car pass I sent to them which authorised me to park there – and they’ve failed on their obligation to provide me with reasons'.
A spokesperson said: “Parkingeye provides a modern consumer-facing car-park management system which has enhanced accessibility and made parking at the hospital easier and safer for staff, patients and visitors.
"The system is designed to ensure the efficiency and smooth operation of the hospital by ensuring that patients, visitors, and staff park in their allocated car parks.
“Following a review of the case we have cancelled the charge and have written to the motorist to confirm this.
“We would add that Parkingeye operates a BPA (British Parking Association) audited appeals process, which motorists can use to appeal their parking charge. If anyone has mitigating circumstances then we would encourage them to appeal.”
Tyla has gone to Parkingeye for comment.