Ambulance on emergency call in St Ives wrongly slapped with parking ticket
Cornwall Council say it was issued in error and has been cancelled
Last updated 1st Sep 2023
A traffic warden who slapped a parking ticket on an ambulance attending an emergency in Cornwall this week has been dubbed a “plonker”.
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.