Traffic warden slaps ambulance with parking fine

Cornish medics were attending a call

A traffic warden who slapped a parking ticket on an ambulance attending an emergency in Cornwall this week has been dubbed a “plonker”. Other residents have called the act “disgusting” and “an absolute outrage”.

The ambulance is understood to have pulled in to a car park to avoid blocking a road in St Ives. The crew came back with a patient to discover the ticket under the windscreen. Senior paramedics are believed to have later travelled to New County Hall / Lys Kernow in Truro to complain about the over-eager ticketing and ask for it to be cancelled.

Cornwall Council and South Western Ambulance Service Trust have both verified that the fixed penalty ticket will no longer be valid. “The Penalty Charge Notice was issued in error and has been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience,” said a spokesperson for the council, which employs the traffic warden.

The 2002 Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions state that emergency vehicles can park in restricted areas – containing, for instance, single or double yellow lines or double red lines – only when they’re used for specific “police, fire brigade or ambulance purposes”.

The Department for Transport says this means that “any vehicle being used for emergency purposes” is exempt from parking fines.

A witness, who originally thought someone had slapped the ticket on the ambulance as a joke, said: “I thought it was disgusting that [a ticket was issued] because rather than block a road, they pulled into a car park that was very close to the call they were attending.”

“Ridiculous”, “disgusting”, “what a plonker”, “jobsworth” and “an absolute outrage” were just some of the comments which greeted photos of the ticket on the ambulance when shared on Facebook.