'I keep getting £70 fines for parking outside my own house’

Maria Rodriguez, 76 says she is forced to park on a small strip of double yellow lines because there is no resident parking permits nor – after five years of requests – a disabled parking bay.

Sefton Council said the fines issued to Ms Rodriguez are acting in accordance with national enforcement guidelines around parking rules. However, Maria said the rules are too rigidly applied and do not take into account her personal circumstances.

It is understood that the penalty charge notices which have been issued to Maria are due to incorrect display of her blue badge and time card. However, for Maria, English is a second language and she maintains she was told to place the blue badge on the side. Asked whether the explanations could have been lost in translation, Maria agrees but said she has made her situation clear and explained the circumstances.

A Blue Badge is a parking permit that allows people with disabilities to park closer to their destination than standard parking spaces. Maria successfully applied for a Blue Badge and uses it everyday as she travels around running her weekly errands.

However, the problems start when she returns to her home on Wellington Street and tries to find a parking space and said she is forced to park away from her house because of the lack of a disabled parking bay. Maria said: ‘I’m just tired of all this because I keep getting £70 fines for parking outside my own house. How can this be?

“I have lived here for 23 years and I remember the day that this [parking situation] changed. A machine came to do the yellow lines just on the corner – nowhere else. I had been asking for the disabled bay for many years but they didn’t do that.”

Maria is registered as having a disability and has mobility issues which impact her independence and ability to move around. One consequence of this is a greater reliance on her car and a need to have parking close to her front door. Without resident or disabled bay parking, Maria said her life has become a daily battle.

Maria added: “There are people that don’t understand that [the need for appropriate parking for drivers with disabilities]. If people had someone in their family, they would probably understand and they could make their voice heard louder than mine because I live alone and it’s difficult to get people to listen.

Asked whether she feels the council have made the effort to understand her need for accessible parking and to clarify display guidance, Maria said: “Well, the question is very interesting. I contacted the council to explain, but all they say is that this [fine] needs to be paid.”

A spokesperson for Sefton Council said: “There are a number of nationally set rules and responsibilities that must be adhered to when using a Blue Badge. One of those rules states that all Blue Badge holders must ensure their badges or time clocks are displayed correctly and made visible in the vehicle they are using, regardless where they park. If this is not done so then a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) may be issued.”