TWO NHS workers who were hit with £170 parking fines after caring for a dying patient said they would rather be “locked up” than pay.
Linda Somboongedd and Stacey Battenn were dealt the tickets while caring for a Covid patient at a housing estate in Canterbury, Kent.
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They are now being chased by bailiffs for the penalty – but argue the parking bay near the terminally ill man’s flat had a ‘visitors’ sign in front of it when they visited on April 1.
Linda, 59, told Kent Online: “They can lock me up – I’m not paying it.
“I was in there about half-an-hour or 40 minutes, and a week later I got a ticket through the door.”
Stacey, Linda’s colleague, had parked in the same area the previous day to care for the same man and was also issued a fine.
The two healthcare assistants had Covid stickers on the front of their car from the NHS saying they can park outside, as long as the vehicles are not obstructing, for a short period of time.
Linda said: “And we also have an NHS sticker saying exactly the same.”
The original tickets were £60 – but have since incurred fees which take each notice up to £170.
Both tickets, issued by private firm UK Car Parking Management Ltd, were appealed but Linda claims they “weren’t interested”.
She said: “They just came back with another letter putting the price up, saying if I didn’t pay it would go up again.”
The pair have received about seven letters demanding payment – including some from a debt recovery firm.
Linda said she’s not paying out of principle.
She said: “It’s not even the money. I’ve got the money – I could pay it tomorrow.
“It’s scary enough for us going into these patients’ homes knowing the chance of catching it, without having these stupid people giving us parking tickets just for going in to help these people that are seriously ill.
“We all worked really hard over the pandemic, and even now we’ve got lots of Covid patients – we’re still going out, we’re still doing our job.
“But we’ve still got to watch where we park our cars because of people like this.”
The Sun has approached UK Car Park Management Ltd for comment.
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