A COUNCILLOR has appealed to a hospital trust to delay issuing fines after the reintroduction of car parking charges appears to have caught people unawares.

Councillor Nick Wallis spotted the change when he was attending Darlington Memorial Hospital himself, prompting him to post a warning on the Haughton Matters Facebook page.

Afterwards, he found that many people had commented expressing their concern over the parking charge changes – with some claiming they had seen others receive tickets as a result.

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Cllr Wallis, who represents the Haughton and Springfield ward on Darlington Borough Council, said: “I saw the charges myself at the hospital and it seems a lot of people are being caught out by it. No one seemed to know this was happening.

“I was really worried to see that there was comment that said the charges apply at Bishop Auckland as well and that there may have been tickets issued.

“What I would say to the trust is, I would ask them to hold off on issuing tickets and fines for four weeks – people aren’t aware of this and it would be good if they could do that.

“More generally, car parking charges are frankly a tax on the sick, not just for patients and their families but for hospital staff as well.

“They need to be scrapped and it should be free for patients, staff and visitors.”
One person said via a Facebook comment: “I have just been to Bishop hospital, so many people with tickets.”

A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, said, “Parking in our hospital public car parks has been free since March 2020 and charges have been reintroduced this month bringing us in line with other trusts across the region and nationally. 

"Tariffs are clearly displayed on all ticket machines. However, parking remains free for some patient groups, including Blue Badge holders and those attending regularly for cancer treatment.”

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