COUNCIL bosses in Sheffield have come under fire from angry motorists who have accused them of failing to clearly identify disabled parking bays in the city centre.
Dawn Anderson, of Chatsworth Road, Brampton, near Chesterfield, is furious she got a ticket for parking in a disabled bay that wasn't marked to say it was one.
But when she complained to council chiefs she was astounded to be told there were no markings for "aesthetic reasons" andparking bays had been deliberately designed to be "unobtrusive".
Dawn parked on Norfolk Street on Sunday July 6 just after 10am and went to help friends set up a production at nearby Sheffield Library Theatre.
But she was horrified to return to her car shortly afterwards to find a parking ticket for £60, reduced to £30 if paid within two weeks, slapped on her windscreen.
She wrote to council bosses explaining she had no idea it was a disabled space.
"There were no markings on the road whatsoever to indicate this was disabled only," she said. "I would expect to see the usual disabled sign painted on the road or the word disabled around a bay and there was no sign at eye level.
"I would never have knowingly parked there if I had realised. The irony, as they would realise from the time of the ticket, was that at that time there were plenty of other spaces in which I could have parked if I had realised this was a designated disabled place."
But she was even more gobsmacked when she got the reply back from the Town Hall.
She said: "I was amazed to read that the street is 'designed to make the best use of this urban space' and that as a 'part of the heart of the city project, a feature of the design was to remove the environmental impact of yellow lines and road markings for aesthetic reasons and to 'rely solely upon signage sized to be as unobtrusive as possible'.
"Unobtrusive? Signs are to be seen! I really think this is too much.
"I wonder if disabled people are even aware of where they can park as they probably can't see them either. How many other people have been caught out by these hidden stings?"
One council traffic warden, who did not want to named, admitted she had been quite busy handing out tickets to motorists who parked illegally in the bay.
"As a motorist myself I would prefer that the road be marked disabled only," she said.
"Having said that, the markings would spoil the cobbled area in what is the heart of our city, and there is quite a large sign to inform motorists that the area has been designated disabled parking only.
"It's entirely the responsibility of the motorist to observe those signs."
Coun Ian Auckland, the Council's cabinet member for sustainable development and transport, said: "I am advised that the restrictions were properly signposted in the Norfolk Street area.
"It is unfortunate if this lady made an innocent mistake, but I will be asking the officers to ensure we have done everything necessary to avoid other motorists having to pay penalties in this area in the future."
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FeaturesMore Rotherham newsMore Doncaster newsMore Barnsley newsCheck out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionLatest sport. The full article contains 584 words and appears in Sheffield Star newspaper.
