When disabled Tom Gasciogne parked up to go to the opticians, he couldn’t believe his eyes when he returned to his car.

Slapped on the windscreen was a penalty charge notice from Northumberland County Council demanding he pays £50.

Tom suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair.

He drives to his destination and using a hoist to get his electric wheelchair from the back of his car, allows him to get out and about.

Tom Gascoigne has MS and is in an electric wheelchair. He parked his car in Hexham Market Square and displayed his disabled badge but he was given a parking ticket.
Tom Gascoigne has MS and is in an electric wheelchair. He parked his car in Hexham Market Square and displayed his disabled badge but he was given a parking ticket.

On Wednesday, June 19, the retired teacher pulled up onto the Market Place in Hexham and found the two designated disabled spaces were taken.

No other lined parking bays were available so Tom parked on a raised kerb and displayed his blue disabled badge while he popped into the opticians to get his new prescription glasses.

But he was devastated when a “jobsworth” traffic warden gave him a parking notice.

“Have they got nothing better to do? They must have been a total jobsworth,” said Tom, 63, of Thorngrafton, near Hexham.

“They could see it was a car that houses a wheelchair, I had my blue disabled badge on display and I thought I was ok to park there.

"I have seen lots of other cars parked there in the past and thought mine would be fine.

“There are no double yellow lines and no signs that say ‘no parking’ that I could see. I really couldn’t believe what they had done.”

Tom Gascoigne has MS and is in an electric wheelchair. He parked his car in Hexham Market Square and displayed his disabled badge but he was given a parking ticket.
Tom Gascoigne has MS and is in an electric wheelchair. He parked his car in Hexham Market Square and displayed his disabled badge but he was given a parking ticket.

The parking ticket says Tom was “not parked correctly within the markings or space of a bay”.

The blue badge allows a disabled person to park on single or double yellow lines for up to three hours if it is safe to do so.

But Tom decided against it and thought a place with no yellow lines would be a better choice.

The penalty notice was put on Tom’s Ford C-Max motability vehicle and says if he pays it with in 14 days the cost will be reduced by 50% to £25. After that the charge will be £50.

Dad-of-two Tom added: “I suffer MS and I’m unable to walk.

"Because of my MS I have to get my prescription glasses changed quite regularly so all I was doing was going to the optician and then I was leaving.

"The two disabled spaces were taken with other cars and there were no other designated lined spaces left.

Tom Gascoigne has MS and is in an electric wheelchair. He parked his car in Hexham Market Square and displayed his disabled badge but he was given a parking ticket.
Tom Gascoigne has MS and is in an electric wheelchair. He parked his car in Hexham Market Square and displayed his disabled badge but he was given a parking ticket.

“There is a space near the exit of the Market Place and so I parked there. I really thought I would be fine, considering I had my blue badge on display.

“What this really highlights is that there are not enough disabled parking spaces in the Market Square area. I go to Hexham about twice a week to do my shopping but they are always full.

"I can usually find another normal lined parking space and just park in one of those and show my blue badge. But on this occasion there was no designated parking spaces available.

"I wasn’t obstructing anyone, there were no yellow lines and there were no signs saying I couldn’t park. There is clearly a lack of disabled parking bays in that area.”

A spokesperson for Northumberland County Council said: "We have an appeals procedure in place and all mitigating circumstances presented in writing are considered.

"We therefore advise that the complainant should follow the instructions on the reverse of the PCN issued to him and appeal the PCN if he feels it was issued incorrectly.

"If a decision is made not to cancel the Penalty Charge Notice then further options will be explained to him should he wish to continue to challenge the council's decision.

"It should be emphasised that parking enforcement is carried out in order to manage parking effectively."